Thieves, Assassins and Mutants: Part 2
by Remy'sRose
Summary: Newly married, Rogue and Remy try to hold on to each other amidst the lies, secrets and other forces that threaten to tear them apart. Chalked full of Romy goodness because I know how much you all love it. An UPDATE! YES! AN UPDATE! So sorry for my absence!
1. Chapter 1

Oh, my goodness! You guys rock! I can't believe how many reviews I got. Thank you all so much. **Warrior Zoe**, **Phoenixdreams**, **redsmileyface**, (yes, they will eventually meet the X-Men and as for your other question. . .) **Roguefreak**, **Burning Touch**, **ishandahalf**, **inTHEgrid,**(that last chapter in all its Romy goodness was for you) **The Green Goddess**, **La Diable Blanc,**(you changed your name) **KillingBellaDonna**,(your name is so freakin' awesome) Thank you to everyone who added my story to your favorites, I'm blushing: "You like me, you really like me. . ." Sorry, I couldn't help it. Ahem, anyway let's see how well I write when I'm sleep deprived, wait, and let's get a Pepsi. . . ah, caffeine! Here we go.

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 1

They had been married for a week before Remy brought up the subject of children. Philippe had given Remy a week off, what they were really doing, they had yet to tell Rogue, they merely skirted the issue and Remy enjoyed a brief honeymoon period. To say that he enjoyed it would be an understatement; he thoroughly immersed himself in it. They didn't get out of bed until the afternoon of the second day and that was only because they had to eat. Remy ended up taking Rogue on the dining room table once they had finished eating. By the end of the week, they had had sex on every single surface of the apartment, at least twice.

It was late in the evening when Remy was able to tear himself out of Rogue's arms to get back to work. He and Philippe were going to do some "surveillance", he did not offer any other explanation and Rogue did not press him any further. She got up to make him something to eat and barely escaped being dragged into the shower with him. When he came out of the shower, he found that she had made beignets, and the little pastries were nearly as good as Tante Mattie's. He watched her eat them, licking the powdered sugar off her fingers and tried not to become aroused by it; he was failing miserably.

"Rogue?" Remy cleared his throat; he had to focus on anything else. She looked up at him, expectantly, while still licking her fingers. "I was jus' tinkin' bout sumtin'. Sumtin' we ain' talked 'bout yet."

"What's that, shugah?"

Sugar. He cleared his throat again and focused on her eyes. "Children."

"Ch-children?" Rogue looked a bit nervous. "What children?"

"Ours."

"We don't have any, hun," she pretended not to follow him and bit the side of her bottom lip. "Unless ya'll got somethin' ta tell me."

"No," he reached over and took her right hand in both of his. "I'm talkin' 'bout us havin' children."

"Us?" Rogue seemed at a loss for words and she looked a bit panicked. "Ah-Ah don't know. . ." She stood, busing herself with taking their plates to the sink and started to clean up.

"Rogue," Remy went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders to still her movements. "Do you want children?"

"Of course Ah do," she said it barely above a whisper.

"Dis whole week, we haven't used any protection. Ya never said anytin' so. . ."

"Ah'm takin' birth control."

"Oh," he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Mama thought it would be better that way," Rogue turned to him. "She said it would be better for us to jus' be married for awhile. Jus' the two of us, an' I only jus' turned eighteen, Remy. We have plenty of time right?"

"Right," Remy's voice was a bit hollow.

"Ah'm sorry, shugah," there were tears misting her eyes when she realized she had burst his balloon. "Ya never brought it up an' Ah jus' assumed that ya figured it out an'. . . Remy, Ah'm sorry."

"Non, honey," Remy smiled at her, lifting her chin and watching her blink back her tears. "It's fine. Mebbe I jump de gun a little. We wait a bit, den we talk again."

"Yeah," Rogue reached up to caress his cheek and he turned his face into her palm, kissing it gently. "Jus' give me some time, darlin'."

"All de time ya need, _chere_," Remy pulled her close and kissed her. It was an excruciatingly tender kiss, as he tried to put all of his affection in it and communicate it to her without the words.

She parted her lips, deepening the kiss and they clung to each other, their passion growing. Remy considered her words as he kissed her. Maybe it was better that they didn't have children right away, that they get used to being married. They couldn't behave as they did now with children; there would be diapers and two am feedings, interruptions of their intimate moments. Yes, Remy resigned himself to these thoughts as his tongue dueled with Rogue's and he slipped his hands beneath her shirt, they could wait.

He had just begun to nibble on her ear when a knock sounded at the door. Remy growled at the interruption and tried to find that spot on her neck that made her purr. (gasp) "Remy!" There it is.

More knocking.

"_Putain_!" (Fuck!)

"Not right now 'parently," Rogue chuckled. "But when ya get back. . ."

"I'm gonna kill 'im."

"Jus' go let him in," Rogue tried to disengage herself from her husband. "Ya hafta go to work."

"_Putain de merde_!" (Fucking shit!)

"Such language," Rogue tsk, tsked, trying to smooth out her disheveled appearance while Remy made his way to the door.

"_Salaud_." (Bastard) Remy opened the door for Philippe.

"Good evenin' ta you too," Philippe stepped inside. "Dis _chien_ treating you alright, Rogue?" (dog)

"He is a handful," Rogue nodded to Philippe.

"Jus' say de word an' I take care 'o him fer ya. Whip 'im real good."

"Ya couldn' whip cream, Philippe."

"I can whip a _pensee_ like you," Philippe seemed delighted with the lovely sounds of Rogue's laughter. (pansy)

"Les' jus' go," Remy grumbled, jealous that his cousin had made his wife laugh. He gave Rogue a lingering kiss goodbye before heading out the door. "_Au revior_, _chere_."

"_Au revior et bonne soiree_," Philippe called back to her before Remy shut the door. (Goodbye! Have a good evening)

Rogue shook her head and headed into the bedroom in search of her cell phone. She wanted to call Mystique, she had been out of touch the past week and she wanted to check in. Remy had kept her too busy to call and she didn't want him around when she spoke to Raven; at least, not until she told him more about the Brotherhood. She found the phone in her purse and dialed her mother's cell. It was picked up on the fourth ring.

"Rogue?"

"Yeah, mama, it's me."

"Let you up for air, has he?"

"He's gone back ta robbin' th' rich or whatever he does," Rogue sat back on the bed and stretched her legs out. "How ya doin' down there?"

"Irene and I are in Chalmette," Raven sighed. "I told Marius I had to get away from the drama so we came down here. That little blond bitch was getting on my nerves; I swear if she gets in my face again. . . But anyway, we had some things to deal with down here."

"Did somethin' happen?"

"No, the boys just had a run-in with Ms. Marvel, nothing serious. What is it about blonds, that make them so annoying? I swear one of these days, I'm going to teach that smug, little flying bitch a lesson. So, how is he treating you?"

"Jus' fine, mama."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Raven said flatly.

There was a pause before Rogue said: "He brought up children, mama."

"Darling we went over this," Raven sighed. "You are too young . . ."

"Ah know an' Remy agreed to wait. He understands, it's just that, I burst his bubble somethin' awful. He really wants 'em."

"That's because men are rutting animals and have this thing about planting their seed, staking their calim. It's not only about your age, Rogue, you have an obligation to the Brotherhood and you cannot uphold that if you are barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen."

"Ah know that, mama."

"I hope you do, Rogue. And I hope you will use this time to clue your darling husband in to the lasting benefits of the Brotherhood."

"Ah will."

There was a muffled sound on Mystique's end as she covered the receiver to speak to someone.

"I have to go, darling." Mystique said when she came back on the line. "I have to deal with a few things here. Don't forget what I said."

"Ah won't. Give Renie and th' boys mah love."

"Of course, goodbye, darling."

"Bye, mama."


	2. Don't Rock The Boat

Thank you to all those who read and reviewed! **Warrior Zoe,** **Burning Touch,** **KillingBellaDonna,** **Chica De Los Ojos Café,** **Mazdamiatta, Tammy** (all your questions will be answered in due time), **Remy'sRogue **(yeah, I wouldn't mind being barefoot and pregnant in Remy's kitchen either and neither would Rogue, I imagine. I hope you are feeling better, doll.), **Ishandahalf,** **inTHEgrid ;-), rogueishLeia,** **RogueFreak,** **Sara **(I promise not to leave any loose ends) **Cemikey111, **and **The Bud**! I will do my best to make my stories worthy of all of these reviews!

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 2

Rogue was asleep by the time Remy return home in the wee hours of the morning. His body ached from being forced to survey his marks from a small vent shaft for a few hours but it was worth it and they were closer to completing the pinch. He crept through the darkened apartment toward the faintly lit bedroom in search of his wife. The small bedside lamp was the only source of light, it was dim, just enough to read by; which was what Rogue had been doing when she fell asleep. She was stretched out on the side of the bed she had claimed as hers with a thick book open and face down over her chest. Remy stood by the side of their bed and simply stared for a few moments; she looked like an angel to him, lying there, so peaceful in the golden light. Her hair was spread out over the pillow, the lamplight catching the varying and natural highlights of her auburn curls and her soft, red lips were slightly parted in her sleep. It was like sleeping beauty had come to life and was waiting for his kiss. He knelt beside her on the floor and rubbed one of those curls between his fingers; it felt like pure silk.

A frown marred her lovely features suddenly and he turned his attention to her sharply when he noticed she had begun to breathe rather rapidly. Her body shifted and she moaned in her sleep, a fitful, disturbed moan and her face contorted with worry. Remy stood, knowing she was having a nightmare but unsure whether to wake her or not. Her body twisted, she shook her head on the pillow and whimpered softly.

"No!" she moaned, louder this time and her breathing became more frantic as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Rogue!" Remy sat on the bed beside her and tried to wake her. "_Chere_, wake-up!"

"No!" she shouted in her sleep. "Stop! Don't!" Rogue sat forward, her right arm stretched outward as though she were trying to catch something, startling herself awake in the process.

"_Chere_?" Remy asked softly, trying to discern if she were really awake.

"Remy?" Rogue looked about the room as if she had forgotten where she was and then her tear-streaked face turned toward him. "Am Ah really here? Are you really here?"

"Ya're here, sweet," he said gently. "Ya're in our apartment, in Morocco and I'm really here with you. That look like it a really bad dream, ya wanna tell Remy 'bout it, _amour_?"

Rogue looked at him for a moment, still disoriented before a flood of fresh tears burst through.

"_Non_, _bebe_," Remy pulled her into his arms, cradling her like a child on his lap. Stroking her hair and back, soothing her with wordless murmurings while she sobbed into his chest.

"Ah-Ah d-didn't want to," Rogue's cries where muffled by his shirt. "Ah c-couldn't stop! Ah couldn't stop! Ah dropped them, Ah didn't want to! Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't want to!"

"Shh, bebe," he murmured into her hair. "It's over, honey, it was just a dream. Remy's here, it's over."

He could feel her relax, slowly and she shuddered, trying to catch her breath. "Ah dropped them," She said again. "Ah dropped th' ropes."

"What ropes, honey?"

"Henri's . . . and Genevieve's."

Remy froze and he felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. "_Non_, dat wasn't you."

"It was," Rogue let out another shuddering sob as the tears came again. "Ah c-could f-f-feel th' wind, th' weight of th' ropes Ah could smell their fear, yours. Ah watched them fall. An' Ah heard that sound, the s-sound she made when she hit th' ground. Ah did it!"

"It was him, Rogue," Remy said, tears falling down his face now. "Let it fade, darlin', jus' let it fade away."

He let her cry for a long while, until the sobs stared to die down and her breathing became more regular. She was quiet for a few moments and he thought she had cried herself back to sleep.

"Ah need some water," she said, barely above a whisper.

Wordlessly, Remy stood with her in his arms and carried her into the kitchen, setting her down on the cool counter top while he got her a glass. He put the full glass in her trembling hands and held it as she drank to make sure she had a grip on it; when he was sure, he let her go and watched her drink. After taking many sips, she had finished about half of it and she clutched the glass to her chest, looking down at her lap.

"Ah hated you."

"It wasn't you, _chere_, it was him."

"No," she shook her head and looked up at him. Her hair was wet with tears and sticking to her reddened face. "_Ah_ hated _you_."

"I don' understand."

"Ah hated you for leaving me," she wasn't surprised that no tears came as she said this. She was sure that she had none left. "Ah hated you for not being there when Ah needed you th' most. Ah hated you for not knowin' that it was him telling you ta go an' not me. An' Ah hated mahself for hatin' you, 'cause Ah loved you so much."

She took another few sips from the glass and he just watched her, not saying a word, his face as smooth and unreadable as stone.

"Ah don't think Ah evah felt so alone an' Ah hoped that you were hurtin' as much as Ah was."

He watched her, still saying nothing.

"When they asked me ta marry you, Ah surprised mahself when Ah said yes. Ah realized Ah loved ya as much as Ah hated ya. When we got here an' Ah saw you again, Ah couldn't bring mahself ta tell ya. Ah just wanted ta be near you. Ah couldn't tell you this past week 'cause Ah. . . Ah guess Ah jus' didn't want ta rock the boat. But Ah can't . . . not tell ya now. Ah love ya too much ta keep it all in."

She watched him watch her. Waiting for him to storm away from her, to leave or tell her to leave; but he didn't. He took her face in his hands and stared, with those beautiful red and black eyes, at her.

"I didn' tink dere were words ta tell ya how I felt," he said. "But ya just used 'em."

"What?"

"I hated you," he whispered. "I almos' lost you an' you sent me away. I only wanted ta be wit' you an' you sent me away. I was willin' ta give up ev'rting fer you an' you turned away from me. I hated you an' I hated myself for hatin' you, 'cause I loved you so much. I didn't tell you this week, 'cause I didn't wan' to rock th' boat."

They didn't speak. They just looked at each other in silence. Rogue finished her water, never taking her eyes off of him. When she had placed the glass beside her on the counter, he reached over and took her back into his arms, carrying her back to their room. He sat her on the bed and he sat beside her. After another moment they reached out to each other and still said nothing as they disrobed each other. They were silent, still, as they made love to each other with exquisite tenderness before falling asleep in each other's arms. There was just nothing more to be said.


	3. Any Port In The Storm

I know my chapters have been short guys but I don't get that much time on the computer so I do what I can. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing: **Warrior Zoe, Mazdamiatta, Ishandahalf, Burning Touch, ****inTHEgrid, KillingBellaDonna, Cemikey111, RogueFreak**, (sorry about your computer)** Remy'sRogue** (I think Remy going over would make you feel 100 again. I had that song in my head when I wrote that, thus the conversation and the chapter title.) I promise they won't all be nautical titles. If I didn't reply to your review, I'm sorry, I didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything this weekend but I really, really appreciate each and every one.

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 3

If either of them had been that kind of person, they would have kept an album in which to record the firsts of their marriage; this would have been their first argument. They stood staring at each other in a stalemate, with nothing to show for the past twenty minutes that they had been standing there, arguing back and forth. Both were equally stubborn in their own right and each had a legitimate reason for not backing down; at least within their own opinion. They stood their ground, both determined not to give in, no matter how sexy the other looked, standing there, holding their ground. Remy was trying not to think about how lovely his wife looked when she was angry, with her emerald eyes blazing and her cheeks flushed; it reminded him of how she looked in the midst of her climax and he didn't want to let his mind go there. Rogue was trying not to get lost in those burning coals he called eyes, knowing that if she did, she would melt and he would win.

"Ah can't stand it anymore," Rogue cried out in frustration. "Ah'm gonna go crazy locked up in this apartment if'n Ah have to stay locked up one more day!"

"Why won' you listen to me when I tell you how dang'rous it is out dere in dat city?!"

"Ah can take care o' mahself."

"'Specially fer tourists."

"Ah'm not a tourist."

"Ya sure as hell ain' a native."

"Goin' out fer an hour ain' goin' ta hurt me."

"Ya wanna bet?!"

"What on earth could possibly happen to me in a crowded, public marketplace?!"

"Ya kiddin', right?"

"Damnit, Remy!" Rogue stamped her foot. She knew that it was childish but she was so frustrated, not to mention bored and when she had mentioned going out for awhile, Remy had adamantly refused. He noticed her reaction and gave her a pointed look.

"Dat kinda behavior s'posed ta give me confidence?"

"Bite me!" Rogue flounced down on the couch, crossing her arms beneath her chest.

"I t'ought you liked it when I did dat," Remy chuckled as he gathered a few things he would need as he headed out to met Philippe. "Least, dat's what it seem like las' night."

"You pig!" Rogue glared at him.

"Dat scowl let me know ya gonna be fine," Remy leaned down to kiss her goodbye. Only to be whipped in the face by her silky curls as she turned her face and her lips away from him. He chuckled again as he kissed her cheek. "Any port in de storm, I s'pose."

"Now, shugah," Rogue tried switching tactics. "It doesn't have end on this note, if you'd just be sweet. . ."

"Dere's nut'n I'd like better den ta be sweet," Remy's gaze went to her lips before he straightened up. "But ya ain't goin' out dere by yaself."

"Ah am bored ta tears in here," Rogue said, petulantly. "Ah've tried acclimatin' mahself ta yer schedule, but Ah can't. An' yer neveh here long 'nuff ta take me out; when ya are here, ya either sleeping 'cause ya been out all night or ya on top 'o me."

"Yeah," Remy grinned at the thought. "Ya welcome ta th' top if ya want it. I just got de impression ya liked it dat way."

"Ah do but that's not mah point. Every time Ah get on top, Ah end up on mah back anyway."

"Ya go slow on purpose jus' ta torture me."

"Don't act like you don't like it, shugah."

"I'm not complainin', chere," Remy started toward the door. "Ya can be on top when I get home."

"Until ya flip me over."

Remy chuckled and reached for the door but Rogue came to stand in his path before he could touch the knob. Her green eyes were sparkling with anger.

"Don't walk out on me, swamprat," Rogue crossed her arms again. "We ain't finished with this yet."

"Yeah," Remy thought she had to get mad quicker than any woman he knew. But at least she wasn't shrill like Belle. "We are. It's dangerous and ya're not goin' out dere alone. I ain't gonna say it again."

"If it's so dangerous, why do you go out?"

""Cause I can handle myself."

"An' Ah can't?"

"Non," Remy reached past Rogue to get to the doorknob.

"What is this?" Rogue saw a small handgun in his waistband and pulled it out. She saw that the safety was on and she pointed at him.

"Looks like a hold up," Remy held up his hands in mock fear before taking the weapon from Rogue. "It's a prop, it ain't even loaded."

"Fine!" Rogue feigned indifference. "Go on and see if Ah care that ya're out in a dangerous city. But Ah think it's a dirty trick ta make me come all the way out here jus' ta make a widow of me."

"You wouldn't be a widow long."

"You bet Ah wouldn't."

"No, not wit' all de money ya'd get from my will."

"Just how much money are we talkin' about?"

Remy sighed and cupped Rogue's face in his hands. "It won't be much longer, chere. We nearly done an' den we have a real honeymoon, I promise. I'll take ya anywhere ya want. For now, please stay inside. Ya don' know ya way aroun' an ya're an easy target."

Rogue pouted but didn't prevent him from leaving; she allowed him to kiss her pouting lips and leave the apartment. She went over to the window and gazed out at the city; she was so bored. She was fitful and didn't want to stay cooped up any longer. She had cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, read all the books she brought with her, plus some of Remy's; she had even done some redecorating. The television was less than appealing; she didn't want to sit still. Walking into the bedroom, she picked through her books again; Gone with the Wind, Anna Karenina, Lord of the Rings, Les Miserables, David Copperfield; she couldn't believe that she had already gone through them all. Flopping down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling, Rogue let out a frustrated sigh.

"Ah don't care what you think," Rogue sat up and said aloud. "Ah can take care 'o mahself an' Ah'm goin' out, Remy LeBeau! Ah'll show you that Ah am more than capable of goin' out by mahself for an hour! An' Ah better do it b'fore Ah keep talkin' ta mahself like this."

Rogue got up and dressed; making sure she put her money and her keys in the front pocket of her jeans. She knew better to carry her purse or put anything in her back pockets; she had more than a few survival skills. Locking the door behind her, Rogue left and made her way to the nearby outdoor market she had seen from the window of their apartment. The vendors were more than pleased to see a new American with money to spend and called out to her; letting her know what they had, what good bargains she would get, etc. Before long, she had quite a few purchases in a lovely silk sack she had also just purchased and was about to return home when a stall with all sorts of silk scarfs caught her eye.

She purchased two brightly colored ones and was thanking the vendor when a heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder. Rogue turned around and her stomach dropped as she turned to face the owner of that hand.

"Hey shugah," she summoned a charming smile and casually tried to find the nearest escape route. "Ya done so soon?"

"What da hell ya think ya doin'?" Remy's eyes were blazing.

"Shopping."

"I tell you dat its too dangerous ta go out an' you go out anyway?"

"An' Ah'm fine. Nothin' happened."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble and the stalls a few yards away were being thrown out of the way as if they were made of straw and not heavy wood. Remy pulled Rogue against him as he ducked against the building closest to them as a long, heavy metal coil shot out from the flying stalls and debris to smash the stall next to where they had been standing.

"Ya had ta say it, didn't you?" Remy asked her as another coil shot out to smash another stall.

Rogue looked up at him, unable to answer then looked back at the figure that was emerging from the dust and debris, making his way toward them.


	4. Does Whatever A Spider Can

**Thank you to all my reviewers: Ishandahalf, Burning Touch, Warrior zoe, ****Cemikey111, Tammy**, (You guessed it!) **Remy'sRogue** (He could have been Coilman, but he prolly thought the other super villains would laugh at him) **KillingBellaDonna, Mazdamiatta, inTHEgrid, wolfgirl** (you'll see who it is right. . .now!) I kind of wrote myself into a corner with that last chapter and I had to think a few things over but I think I got it all straightened out now.

_Italics are telepathic speech_

Marvel's, not mine. If they were mine, Remy would be here and I wouldn't have to write about him.

Chapter 4

Remy backed up, putting Rogue between him and the building behind them; they stood between two undamaged buildings watching four, six-foot long metallic tentacles crawl through the center of the market place. The tentacles were supporting a short stocky man in his mid thirties, wearing a ridiculously bright green and gold costume. The man wore black goggles and his brown hair was done in a bowl like cut that fell just above his eyes. He seemed to be searching for something, overturning the stalls with the tentacles as he moved along and he was muttering angrily to himself. Rogue saw Remy pull a few playing cards from one of his pockets and held them poised, ready to throw if the situation called for it. She peeked out over his shoulder to get a better view of the scene.

"Come out and face me you cowardly pest!" The man yelled over turning more debris. "I'll keep this up until you face me, wall-crawler!"

Rogue smirked, knowing that Spiderman was probably watching nearby and trying to catch his breath. She always thought that the web-head was a little too cocky for his own good. She knew Otto Octavius, AKA Doctor Octopus, the Brotherhood had had a few run-ins with Spiderman and had contacted Doc Ock in order to keep him out of their way. He was not only a brilliant scientist but a mutant himself with low-level telepathy and was sympathetic to their cause. She wasn't sure if she should make their presence known, however, if Spidey was around, he might bring up her status with the Brotherhood and there were some things she wasn't ready to explain to Remy just yet.

The situation was soon out of her hands as Doc Ock turned and spied them as he turned in their direction. His face broke out in a smile as he saw Rogue partially hidden behind Remy.

"Rogue!" He ambled toward them on all four tentacles, his body still upheld by them. "It's good to see you again, my dear! What are you doing in, Rabat? (1) I had not heard that there was any Brotherhood activity in Morocco."

Rogue shook her head at the man subtly trying to tell him not to mention her affiliations but as Remy turned toward her in surprise, she merely smiled at her husband.

"Hey, Otto," Rogue smiled up at the doctor. "It's kind of a personal stay. No business."

"Ah, I see," Otto looked from Rogue to Remy and nodded. "So your dear mother is not here with you?"

"No, just me . . . and Remy," Rogue stepped out from behind Remy. "Remy, this is Dr. Otto Octavius. Doc, this is Remy LeBeau . . . mah husband."

"Husband?" Otto lowered himself to the ground and stuck out his hand toward Remy. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise! Glad to know you, my boy."

"Yeah," Remy shook the older man's hand. "Likewise."

"I assume he's one of us?" Otto looked at Rogue who nodded. "I think your mother would have a fit if you didn't marry a mutant, not that there is anything wrong with baselines. But, "Like must marry like, lest there be no peace," I believe that's a direct quote from your favorite book."

"Sure is," Rogue tried to avoid the puzzled look Remy was giving her.

"Your mother is aware of this, isn't she?" Otto asked her.

"Yeah, she was all for it."

"Really?" Otto looked over at Remy in surprise. "You must be an extraordinary young man to get the approval of Myst-"

"Otto," Rogue was eager to keep him from mentioning the Brotherhood or Mystique. "Ah don't mean ta be rude but weren't ya in the middle of somethin'?"

Otto looked around at the ruined market place and sighed angrily. "All I ask is to be able to conduct my experiments in peace. That meddling Spiderman has to chase me all the way to the capital of Morocco to ruin them. I wish I had some of the might of the Brotherhood . . ."

Again, Rogue shook her head slightly.

"_What are you up to, my dear?" _Rogue heard Otto's telepathic voice in her head.

"_Remy doesn't know everything about th' Brotherhood,"_ Rogue answered back. _"Ah'm tryin' ta ease him in ta th' whole superhuman thing gently." _

"_Not too gently, child," _Otto warned. _"He may resent you keeping things from him."_

"Rogue?" Remy was looking between his wife and the doctor who had both gone silent for a moment.

"Ah'll explain everything later, shugah," Rogue held his hand in both of hers and gave him a sweet smile.

"Yes, and I'd best be off before trouble finds us--never mind, there he is."

They all looked up to see the garish webslinger himself, dangling upside down from a single strand of webbing, descending toward them slowly.

"I really thought we had something, Doc," Spiderman shook his head in mock sadness. "I was waiting for you at the end of the street, remembering all the good times we've had today and here I find you chatting it up as though we didn't have a date."

"Ah," dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "I knew you'd keep."

"You wound me, Doc, really," Spiderman turned to Rogue and Remy. "What about you, Rogue? Should I expect any visits from your brethren today?"

"Didn' know our Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman had a problem wit' mutants," Remy didn't like the wall crawler's tone toward his wife.

"Not all mutants," Spidey said. "Just the ones with ties to terrorists."

"And you are one to make this judgement?" Otto was angry. "A self-proclaimed vigilante is drawing the line between terrorist and vigilante? Hypocrites, all of you! Avengers! Fantastic Four! Save the world and protect the innocent, but only if they have the right genes! If there are mutants, they must be doing something underhanded, right? The Brotherhood of Mutants is evil because they are fighting for their equality?"

"I'm not here for this, Ock," Spiderman sighed. "I'm here to stop you from making that super-powered bomb! But if you wanna get on that subject, what about the research facility that the Brotherhood destroyed last month, where twenty scientists lost their lives when the building was attacked?"

"How many mutants were tortured and murdered in that facility, Spidey," Rogue spat angrily. Her body was rigid with the memory of the details she had heard about. "Those scientists were experamentin' on those mutants and when they weren't the guards were beatin' their prisoners, rapin' th' women, some 'o them were as young as eleven and twelve!"

"There was never any evidence . . ."

"Do ya really think th' bastards that controlled that facility were gonna leave a paper trail?"

"It was all funded by the government," Spiderman tried to protest.

"Yeah," Rogue trembled with her rage. "Ah know."

"Look, I told you I had no problem with mutants," Spiderman look at the three mutants, staring daggers at him. "Just as long as . . ."

"Jus' as long as dey follow de rules?" Remy spoke up.

"Right."

"Like sit at de back 'o de bus an' drink from a sep'rate drinkin' fountain?"

"No! I . . ."

"Leave the children alone!" Otto shouted. "They can see through you. The fact that you automatically suspect them just because they are mutants when all they were doing was enjoying the day. Your bigotry shines through!"

"I'm not a bigot!"

That was the last thing Spiderman said before he dropped like a stone from his web. Even with his spider sense, he was too distracted to see Rogue sneak over behind him and reach under his mask to knock him out with her power. She only absorbed just enough to knock him out and he would be up in a few moments.

"Ah was getting' tired 'o listenin' ta him," she slipped her glove back on.

"Ya okay chere?" Remy gazed at her anxiously, remembering what had happened the last time she used her power.

"Ah didn't hold on long 'nough ta get much," Rogue assured him. "He won't remember why he was lying there unconscious later. Otto, ya should get a head start. Are ya really buildin' a bomb?"

"No," Otto rose up again, supported by the tentacles. "Just a particle ray. I don't know where he got the notion of a bomb. Anyway, it's merely a ploy, I don't think it will really work."

"All right then," Rogue nodded her approval.

They said their goodbyes as Otto made his way across town and Remy and Rogue headed back to their apartment. Remy didn't say a word on the way back and this concerned Rogue. He would surely want an explanation when they returned and she wasn't quite sure what she would tell him. How would she explain those terrorist allegations or the fact that she knew the details of the attack on that research facility? She was planning on telling him everything but in her time. What on earth was he doing back so soon anyway? He was usually gone for hours and here he was back barely an hour after he had left. Had he been watching her to see if she followed his rules? She was his wife, not his child. How dare he spy on her! Hell, she had just taken down Spiderman; didn't that prove that she could take care of herself?

She was angry by the time they got back to the apartment but she didn't say a word until he had closed the door. As soon as he did, she turned to give him a piece of her mind. However, her words never made it out as she was hauled against him as he crushed her lips beneath his; making her forget everything she had been planning to say.

(A/N: (1) Rabat is the capital city of Morocco)


	5. Explanations

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers:** KillingBellaDonna, ****Cemikey111, warrior zoe, inTHEgrid, Tammy** (I always thought Spidey was a bit too cocky. And will Remy ask for an explanation?) **ishandahalf,** **Remy'sRogue** (I agree, it's a very pleasant way to lose your train of thought) ;-) and **Burning Touch**.

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 5

If she had a coherent thought left in her head, Rogue would have cursed Remy for making her lose them whenever he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt his tighten around her waist and they kissed each other passionately, hungrily. Rogue moaned into his mouth as it slanted again and again over hers and his hands smoothed over her back, waist and bottom. Just as sudden as his first kiss had been, Remy disengaged from her so quickly that she could only whimper at the loss of contact as she stumbled forward, slightly. She looked up to see him standing there, cutting an imposing figure, with his muscular arms crossed over his chest and a frown marring his handsome features. Rogue gave him a weak smile and tried to think of what she could do to distract him from the inevitable questions.

"Well?" He prompted.

"Well, what?"

"Don't, Anna," he frowned deeper. "I asked you ta stay inside . . ."

"No, ya'll ordered me ta stay inside," Rogue put her hands on her hips and stared back with what she hoped would be equivalent to his glare. "Ah'm ya wife, Remy, not ya child!"

"I warned you how dang'rous it is out dere an' ya went out anyway. Ya coulda been killed jus' now!"

"Otto wouldna hurt me."

"Ol' Spidey didn' seem ta be ya biggest fan."

"Please, did ya not jus' see me take 'im down. An' it was between him an' Otto, Ah wouldn't have stepped in an' Otto wouldn't have expected me to. What the hell were ya doin back so soon anyway?"

"Our plans were a bust today so I came back early to take you out! And de fact dat Doc Ock is yer buddy doesn't change dat you went out by yaself!"

"Ah'm not a child, Ah can take care 'o mahself! Ah been doin' it fer a long time!"

"Seem's like ya mama's been takin' care 'o you for a long time, jus' 'cause she taught ya how ta fight-"

"She's not mah mama."

"What?" Remy's frown fell, only to be replaced by a look of pure confusion.

"She adopted me, Remy. She isn't mah real mother. Mah real mother died when Ah was little an' Ah ran away from home when Ah was about eight years old. Ah call her mah mama 'cause she took me in an' raised me as her own."

Remy sank down on the couch, attempting to digest everything she had just told him. Rogue sat on the edge of the coffee table and continued: "After mah powers manifested, mama started mah trainin'."

"Training?"

"She's part of and sometimes leader of a group called the Brotherhood, ya'll remember Ah told ya a little bit about them b'fore ya left to come here."

"Ya said dey were a group 'o mutant freedom fighters, ya didn't tell me yer mother was dey're leader!" Remy stood and ran a frustrated hand through his long, unruly hair and then turned back to her suddenly. "Dat mean dat Emille is a mutant too, _non_?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Katherine too?"

Rogue nodded though she saw no reason to tell him their real names, nor divulge the fact that Irene was not Raven's mother but her lover and confidant. "Didn't ya ever wonder how Renie knew so much all the time?"

"She a head-case?"

"No," Rogue smiled at his use of the slang for a telepath. "Otto is but Renie's a precog."

"A what?"

"She can see th' future. That's her mutant power. She saw me when Ah was a little girl and ran away from home, that's how mama found me. She can't control what she sees or how often and the farther into the future her visions are, the less clarity she has in understandin' them."

"An' Emille?"

Rogue hesitated. "Mama's a shape-shifter."

Remy sat down again, a thoughtful frown on his face and Rogue moved over to sit beside him on the couch.

"Ah'm sorry Ah didn't tell ya earlier, shugah," she took his hands in hers. "Ah was afraid of how ya'd react."

Remy remained silent as he processed these things, his eyes were on Rogue's hands as they caressed his own. She hadn't lied to him, only withheld the truth, but she had led him to believe that she was just an ordinary girl, with an ordinary life. Aside from the fact that her mother had married into the Assassins Guild and she had to take part in a guild marriage-?

"Why did Emille marry Marius?" Remy was still looking at their hands. "Did she know who he was when she married him? Did she know about the guilds?"

"Partly."

"Partly?" Remy looked up to face her. "How do you partly know about it?"

"Sometimes, when you lead the life we do," Rogue chose her words very carefully. "Ya just want to know what it feels like to lead a normal life for a change. And mama doesn't like ta be bored. It was kinda perfect for her. Ah jus' went along with her."

"Why'd you marry me?"

"What?" Rogue's hands stilled and her face fell in shock.

"Why'd you marry me? Why'd you go along wit' dat one?"

"Ah married you 'cause Ah loved you an' Ah didn't want to lose you. An' Ah thought ya should have at least some family that's not ashamed of who ya really are."

Remy winced at her last statement and looked away. "Dey're not-"

"Yes, they are Remy. They'd rather you kept your powers to yaself an' not let th' world know that you're special. It can be dangerous for th' world ta know about us but we shouldn't have to hide it, 'specially from ya family. All those people who claim ta love you. That first night Ah met you, you were being attacked for being who you are and no one defended you; not Belle or ya family, ya didn't even defend yaself. That ain't how anyone should live."

"We're alike Remy," Rogue put a hand on his cheek and gently turned his head until he was facing her. "We're alike and Ah love you. That's why Ah married you. Please don't think any differently, no matter what happens. Ah'll love you, just like Ah do now, until Ah die."

She leaned in and kissed his mouth, relieved when she felt him respond in kind but when the kiss ended, Remy stood and started for the door.

"Remy?" Rogue stood, her heart squeezing with fear. "Where are you going?"

"Out," he winced at the fearful tone in her voice. "I need ta think. I'll be back later. Don' wait up for me."

Rogue sank back down on the sofa as he closed the door behind him, with a horrible ache in her throat and she didn't hold back the sobs that accompanied. She let them pour out of her until she was spent and then she curled up in the corner of the sofa where he had sat and tried to force the ache go away. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Raven's phone. At the sound of her mother's voice, the sobs came back and she tried to calm herself as Raven was beginning to panic. Calming herself, she told Mystique everything that had happened and what she had revealed. Raven listened and agreed that what she had told him was best under the circumstances.

"I found out what he's working on over there," Raven informed her. "Fortunately, Remy's cousins like to get drunk and pass out so it's easier to impersonate them. I'll see what I can work out with my contacts and see if I can't expedite things over there."

"That'd be great," Rogue sniffed. "It nice here in Rabat, but Remy doesn't want me to go out alone, he's says it's too dangerous."

"He's right. But didn't you go out the first week you were there? I heard Jean Luc saying something about giving Remy a week off from his duties."

"Well, he did," Rogue stammered. "But we didn't go out much."

"Then what did you-?" Mystique sighed. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

"Remy said that we should take some time off after he's done with whatever he's doin here. Ya know, have a real honeymoon. Ah really wanted to go to Casablanca and Remy mention something about the south of France."

"I suppose it could be arranged," Raven sounded annoyed. "Just don't forget that you have other responsibilities."

"Ah won't. Ah just wish Remy would come back now."

"Don't worry, they always come back. Just don't be too enthusiastic when he returns or he'll make a habit of it."

"Is everything alright, down there?" Rogue asked, trying not to think about Remy as the tears and that ache were beginning to return. "Ya never told me how Belle took the news."

"The little bitch stormed about for awhile and then took off to look for her brother again. I have Spiral tracking her, she's somewhere near Shreveport right now. Don't concern yourself with her. I, on the other hand was in the middle of a dinner with Marius, thank God Irene is here with me. Your call gave me an excuse to get away for a moment, but I should be getting back before he comes in looking for me. Don't worry about your man darling, he'll be back."

"Thanks mama," Rogue managed a small smile even though Raven couldn't see her. "I'll call you again soon. Bye."

Rogue switched off her phone and looked over at the clock, it was after 5pm and Remy had yet to return. She got up and started to put away the things she had bought in the street market; she put the flowers she had bought in a vase, put away the various spices, fruits, nuts and other foods she had bought. She enjoyed shopping at the little market, it reminded her of all the little street fairs back home; they had all their wears displayed in tin buckets, all of the venders bartering and vying for your business. The silk scarves were the last things she pulled out of the colorful silk sack she had bought to carry everything in, they were the last things she had bought and she had bought them with a specific purpose in mind. She sighed, wondering if she would get to use them for the purpose she had intended. Shaking thoughts of her absent husband out of her mind, she went toward the bedroom to shower and change. In reality, she was only trying to stay occupied and kill time until he got back.

After her shower, she slipped on a satin chemise, a lovely dark crimson one that she had bought right before coming to Morocco and then she wandered into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten since this morning and all of her weeping and worrying had worn her out. Staring at the contents of the fridge and then the cupboards, she decided that she had no appetite and flopped down on the couch with the remote in her hand. As she flipped through the channels, her eyelids grew heavy and her head lolled back a few times, so she turned off the television and obeyed her tired body's demands. She cuddled up with a soft throw that was draped over the couch and closed her eyes, falling into a deep and exhausted sleep.

That's where she was when Remy finally came in, well after midnight and saw his wife curled up like a cat on the sofa, the throw kicked off of her and laying on the floor. He sighed as he gazed down at her noting as if for the first time, how beautiful she looked in the moonlight and how his heart ached with his love for her. He took her sleeping form in is arms, handling her as though she were made of rose petals and carried her to their bed. She stirred as he tucked her in and she gazed up, comforted immediately by the burning glow of his demon-red eyes and she smiled.

"Mama said you'd be back," she murmered.

"I'm back," he whispered as he undressed and slipped beneath the covers beside her. "I said I would be."

"I love you, Remy," Rogue cuddled up against him.

"Je'tiame aussi, chere," Remy wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her temple.


	6. Kiss and Makeup

I know that I answer your reviews but I still like to give the shout outs cause I think its fun; and I do have a few anonymous reviewers. Thank you to all my reviewers: **Frek**, **ishandahalf,** **warrior zoe,** **KillingBellaDonna, Cemikey111, Tammy** (no need to worry, at least for now) **Burning Touch **and** inTHEgrid**. Anyone who has been reading my story and has not reviewed, I would really like to know what you think; the reviews really do help me.

Marvel's, not mine.

**Disclaimer:** I think its time for a little Romy smut, what do you guys think? ;-) You know the drill, don't read this if you are underage or sensitive to graphic material.

Chapter 6

It was the warm sun on her face that woke her, Rogue opened her eyes but did not want to move from the, oh, so comfortable position she was in, with he head tucked between Remy's chin and chest. She smirked when she realized the other position they were in; she had been half on top of her husband, with one of her legs curled around his other side. Remy had one hand was resting on her thigh and the other on her bottom. He shifted suddenly and his hand began to run up and down her thigh. She smiled and let the hand she had draped over his chest trace invisible patterns on his shoulder. Remy mumbled something and his other hand squeezed her butt. He appeared to still be asleep; she whispered his name but he didn't respond. She suppressed a chuckle; only Remy could be a letch in his sleep. But he was her letch and that was all that mattered. Rogue sighed, contentedly and closed her eyes, soaking in the sunlight that poured in through the window and reveled in the feel of Remy's arms around her. After a moment, the hand that had been stroking her thigh went up to where her legs met and pressed his fingers against her.

"Remy!" Rogue cried out with both surprise and pleasure. She sat up and faced her grinning husband, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"

"Not th' whole time, chere."

"Humph," Rogue pretended to eye him suspiciously. "Ah'm not sure Ah want to know everything ya can or cannot do in yer sleep."

"Oh, I t'ink ya do."

"So ya were awake when ya grabbed m' ass?"

"I grabbed ya ass?"

"Yeah," Rogue raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side as though she didn't believe him but there was a smile playing at her lips. "An' if ya weren't so cute, I'd have smacked ya good."

"Speakin' o' which," Remy said and smacked the _derrière_ in question, hard enough to sting but not enough to hurt. "Dat's fer yesterday."

"Hey!" Rogue tried to get up but Remy held her against him. "What are ya talkin' about? What'd Ah do yesterday ta warrant that?"

"Ya scared de shit outta me," Remy frowned at her and said: "Ya were a naughty girl, sneakin' out an' puttin' yerself in danger."

"So ya decide ta beat me?"

"You were naughty and deserved a spankin'," Remy smirked and grabbed her bottom again.

"You brute!" Rogue said, laughing and trying to wriggle away from him but he hauled her up so that she was flush on top of him, her legs straddling him. "You lemee go!"

"Not wit'out a kiss," Remy growled.

Rogue smile and planted a quick, chaste peck on his lips. She giggled at his frown and moved in for another, hotter, longer version of the kiss that turned into slow, lazy, tongue wrestling. After a moment, Rogue felt him harden against her and she pulled back with a chuckle: "Ya not very subtle, shugah."

"Only when I have to be, chere."

"Ya not gonna let me up now are ya?"

"_Non_."

"Aren't ya hungry?" Rogue bit her tongue when she realized she set herself up.

"_Oui_!" The wicked look in his eyes made it quite obvious that he meant it in more than one way; his hands slipping up her thighs and beneath her chemise confirmed it. "We had a fight yesterday, time ta kiss an' make-up, _non_?"

"Ah don't know," Rogue pretended to look indifferent and ran her hands along his chest and down his abdomen. "Ah think y'all should suffer a lil' longer."

"By all means, darlin'," Remy moved his hands up her belly to cup her bare breasts beneath the chemise. "Did I mention that I like dis color on ya?"

"Ya hands," Rogue pushed off of him. "As much as Ah love 'em, are gonna defeat th' purpose."

"What are ya talkin' 'bout?" Remy sat up in confusion as he watched his wife climb off of him and head into the living room. "Chere?"

Rogue returned with the two silk scarves she had bought the day before and held them up to him. She gave him a sly smile as she scooted back up on the bed.

"Ah'm gonna make sure Ah don't end up on mah back b'fore Ah'm done with you," she pushed him back against the pillows. "Ah'm gonna have ta tie y'all down shugah."

Remy's eyes nearly crossed with lust as he processed what she had just said and he merely lay there as she loosely tied his wrists to the bedposts with the bright silk scarves. He watched her face, she was completely serious, her face sober and then she sat back to admire her handiwork.

"There," she said. "Everytime Ah try an' touch ya, ya lose all control an' flip me over b'fore Ah'm done with ya. Now, ya'll hafta let me have my way with ya."

"_Bon Dieu_!" Remy muttered as Rogue moved over him, straddling him again and kissed his mouth.

After a searing kiss, she made her kissed her way down to his throat and spent several minutes attending to that area, listening to his breathing hitch. She kept her hands busy, running them up and down his chest, stomach and arms. "Roguey, ya gonna kill me," Remy gasped as she kissed her way down his chest and put her mouth on one of his masculine nipples. He gasped sharply as she swirled her tongue along it and after a moment, moved over to the other one. Making her way down his taught, lean stomach muscles, she laughed when she felt them tighten beneath her touch and she grinned up at him as she hooked her fingers into his boxers.

"Honey, ya gotta untie me now," Remy was panting now.

"Ah don't think so," Rogue smirked and tugged his boxers down until she pulled them completely off. "Now that Ah got ya attention . . ."

Remy watched her and sucked in his breath as she tentatively touched his erection. Rogue smiled at his reaction and gently stroked his shaft until he was rock hard and jerking at the ties that held him.

"Ya had enough, baby?" Rogue smiled and again rose from the bed. She slipped her panties down and pulled the chemise over her head. "Now ya know how it feels when ya drive me ta th' brink an' torment me."

"Roguey, I need ya," Remy was aching for her, he was very close to pain as she straddled him again and slid herself slowly onto him, causing him to buck his hips against hers.

She began to move against him, her hands pressed into his chest as she held herself up and moaned as he lifted his hips to meet hers, matching her thrust for thrust.

"Ya killin' me, chere," Remy panted as she continued her slow movements. She merely smiled as he worked his wrists free from the scarves.

She hadn't tied them tight and with a little working, he pulled his hands free. His hands settled on her hips and pulled her against him, creating a faster pace, which she readily obliged to. She moaned in time with their rythym and Remy knew he was close to his climax. With one hand he began to stroke her until she climaxed and only then did he allow himself to follow her into the flames.

XXX

"Don't y'all have ta meet Philippe?" Rogue asked him. They had spent the rest of the morning in bed; it was now late afternoon and Remy was busy leaving a distinctive mark on her neck.

"Not today," he answered and went back to his task.

"Thank you for not rippin' mah scarves," Rogue said, wrapping her arms around his neck, getting thoroughly aroused once more.

She felt his lips curve into a smile against her neck and he gave it a lick, obviously finished and made his way down her body.

"Sure thing," he gently bit her collarbone, causing her to gasp sharply before he continued down to her breasts.

He had her whimpering in no time and he nibbled a trail down her belly. He made love to her with his mouth until she screamed with pleasure and then he took her with hard, greedy thrusts. She began to spasm with a second orgasm before he was done; she cried out with pleasure again and again while he continued to thrust into her. A few moments later he came too, spilling his seed into her and shouting her name into her shoulder.

They lay together for awhile, catching their breath and slowly allowing coherency to come back to them. Remy withdrew from her and rolled off of her, bring her to his side.

"Have I mentioned yet that I love you, chere?" he murmured into her hair.

"Not in th' last five minutes, darlin'."

"Remind me ta tell ya when I wake up later, bebe."

"Sure thing, shugah," she whispered as they cuddled up together and let sleep take them.

(A/N: Spanking by request of inTHEgrid. Please review and let me know if this seemed a bit too rushed)


	7. Chapter 7

A shout out to all my loverly reviewers because I love them all so much: Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, (Everyone go read her latest story, it's fabulous!) CeMikey111, troubledobsesession (sorry, I work, a lot), inTHEgrid, Remy'sRogue (I always thought of Remy with the acoustic guitar like Johnny Cash), Tammy (Be very worried about Julien and BellaDonna) Frek, cooltangerine (psst update your story) I have to drag Remy and Rogue out of bed now, I think they've been in there long enough XD)

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 7

Remy was in a very good mood that morning as he got ready to meet Philippe. Their job had been going along so smoothly that they would more than likely be done in a few days and Rogue had been much more compliant about staying inside. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling on his boots when he heard a knock at the door followed by the sound of his cousin's voice. After slipping a pack of playing cards into his pocket, he made his way out to the living room where Philippe was standing in front of the French doors that led out to the balcony and Rogue was beside him. Philippe turned when Remy entered the room and gave him a nod in greeting but Rogue stayed facing the window.

"B'fore we go," Philippe said. "Can I talk to y' outside, cousin?"

"Sure," Remy looked over at Rogue as he followed Philippe to the door but she still had not turned around.

As soon as they were in the hallway outside the apartment, Philippe closed the door and turned to Remy.

"Remy, ya my cousin," he began. "An' I'm going to tell you somethin' now dat I hope y' would tell me if our situations were reversed."

"Okay," Remy said, trying to follow his cousin's train of thought.

Philippe took a deep breath and let it out slowly before punching Remy squarely in the chin. It was not very hard but it was hard enough to hurt and since it was so unexpected, it knocked Remy flat on the ground.

"What de hell?!" Remy cried, shaking his head and the stars out of his eyes. "What was dat f'r?!"

"Dat's for n'glectin' dat _ange_ of a wife ya got!" Philippe rubbed his sore knuckles. "Y' got a hard head, _homme_. But dat not so s'prisin'."

"Whaddya mean, n'glectin? I ain' doin' any such ting!" Remy checked his face for any blood.

"Y' keepin' her a prisoner in her own home!"

"I am not!"

"When's de las' time she went outside?"

"De udda day when she sneak out-"

"She had ta sneak out?"

"Damn it, Philippe! Y' know how dang'rous it be out dere! "Specially for a _femme_ an' 'specially fer an American _une_."

"_Oui_," Philippe nodded. "_Mais _we have a guild branch here in Rabat. Y' let dem know an' dey keep an eye on her, simple as dat."

"_Non_!"

"_Pourquoi pas_?" (Why not?)

"What if she gets hurt?"

"Wit' da Moroccan branch lookin' out fer her?"

Remy sighed. "What if she gets hurt an' I'm not dere."

"I know y' in love wit' da girl, Remy," Philippe said. "A blin' man could see dat but y' can't lock her away. It's like all dose rich targets we've had, dey lock up deir treasures an' only take dem out in secret to look at dem, den dey put 'em away 'gain. Den dey f'rget it's dere an' we take it from dem. I'm not sayin' de girl gonna leave you but if ya try an' lock her up ta keep her safe, ya gonna lose her. At least a part o' her."

"I almos' lost her, Philippe," Remy leaned against the wall and ran his hand through his hair. "I held her while her life poured outta her an' I can't do dat 'gain. I can't!"

"I understan', Remy, I do, but have y' taken a good look at de girl lately? She pale an' not jus' dat magnolia white skin she got. She pale from lack o' sun, she don' even go out on de balcony anymo', I tink it's too painful ta see ev'rytin' out dere when she can't be out dere. An' her eyes lost dat glow, dat sparkle dey had. She bein' compliant fer y', fer de sake o' peace wit her husband but it gonna kill sometin' inside her, den you lose her anyway."

"Go find Salah," Remy said after a moment, he knew his cousin was right. "He de head o' the Moroccan branch, _oui_?"

"_Oui_."

"Explain ev'ryting ta him. Tell him I want a guide fer Rogue, t'day an' ev'ryday fer as long as we here. I want some o' his people lookin' out fer her too. But I don' want her ta see dem an' dey only step in if she in trouble."

"It a good t'ing y' doin', cousin," Philippe punched him lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, yeah," Remy turned to go back into the apartment. "Jus' stop hittin' me."

Remy came back into the apartment but Rogue was no longer at the widow; he searched until he found her in the small walk-in pantry. She hadn't heard him come in and she was rearranging the shelves. It was already well organized but she was rearranging it and he winced when he realized that she was just trying to find something to do. He watched her for a moment, her face did indeed have an indoor pallor and the natural blush was gone from her cheeks. Her hair was limp and dull; there were even dark smudges under her eyes. Her shoulders slumped and her whole being exuded unhappiness. His heart wrung painfully when he realized what he had done to her in trying to keep her safe and all to himself. He scolded himself for not realizing it sooner. Taking a deep breath, he entered the small pantry.

"Anna?"

"Remy!" Rogue looked up at him, startled and nearly dropping a jar of spices she held in her hand. "I thought you'd left."

"I wouldn't leave wit'out sayin' _adieu_ to _mon biquette_." (my sweetheart)

Rogue gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and let him embrace her but he could tell that her heart was not in it.

"I have a s'prise f'r you."

"What's that?" Rogue went back to her reorganizing.

"I arrange a guide fer you," Remy said. "A member o' de Moroccan t'ieves guild. Dey take ya out anywhere ya want fer de time we have lef' here."

Then he saw it, that sparkle was back, her eyes flashed as she put down the cans she was holding and turned toward him, but it did not seem to be what he had expected. She said nothing but walked past him and out into the living room.

"Chere?" He followed her out. "Y' okay wit' dat?"

"Ya got me a babysitter," she spat. "How could ya do this ta me?"

"What?"

Rogue turned on him, her eyes flashing emeralds, there was the sparkle. "First ya lock me up an' treat me like some kinda helpless invalid. Like a child, an' then ya grant me permission ta leave th' apartment with a babysitter! Someone Ah don't even know an' ya expect me ta be grateful?! How dare you?!"

"I t'ought dis is what y' wanted."

"Ah wanted to go out but Ah don't need a bodygaurd! Ah don't know how many more ways Ah can tell you that Ah can take care o' mahself."

"I'm jus' tryin' ta keep y' safe."

"Ok," Rogue held up her hands. "Stop! Ah really need to get off this merry-go-round. We're jus' goin' round an' round an' its gettin' us nowhere."

Rogue closed her eyes and ran both her hands through her silky locks. When she looked up again, she said: "Attack me."

"_Que_?"

"Attack me! It's the only way Ah can show you that Ah can defend mahself."

"I'm not goin' ta attack you."

"Why? Are ya afraid Ah'll hurt ya?"

Remy snorted.

"Then attack me, swamp rat."

Remy sighed and approached her.

"What happened ta your face?" Rogue paused, noticing for the first time, the bruise along his jaw.

"Philippe hit me."

"Why?"

"Same issue. He's on y' side."

"Good, do ya need ice?"

"_Non_, I'm good."

"Alright, now attack me."

Remy reached out for her only to be stopped by an upward thrust to his nose; not too hard but hard enough to make his eyes tear.

"Shit!"

"How much time do ya think Ah would have to run away b'fore ya eyes stop tearin' an' ya can run after me?"

Remy blinked back the tears that had formed in his eyes and stared a t his wife, standing before him primly but she had that sparkle in her eyes and her cheeks had a little color in them again.

"Would ya like ta try it from behind?" Rogue turned her back to him.

"Why, _chere_," Remy sidled up to her and whispered in her ear while gliding his hands up her arms. "T'ought y' tol' me dat y' didn' really like it from behind."

Rogue rolled her eyes as Remy pulled her back against his hard body and continued to whisper in her ear. "But I t'ink dey heard ya screamin' back in Naw'lins."

She waited and let him wrap his arms around her and nuzzle at her neck through her hair. She ignored the arrows of delight that flashed through her and went limp in his arms, dropping and throwing him off balance. As he stumbled over her, she rolled out from beneath his falling frame and kicked the back of his knees, causing him to fall on his stomach. Rogue straddled him, sitting on the small of his back.

"How many times ya think I can kick th' crap outta ya b'fore Ah run away?"

Remy groaned and shifted beneath her so he was on his back.

"Not bad, chere."

"Ah'd hit harder if it were anyone else."

"I'm sure ya would," Remy reached up and stroked her thigh. He caught her attention for a split second and it was all he needed to turn the tables on her, pining her beneath him. "But ya lost yer focus an' if it wasn't me, you'd be dead right now."

"That's not true," Rogue said and lifted her face up and her lips met his. "Did ya forget that ya're th' only one Ah can touch?"

Do ya really want deir t'oughts bouncin' 'round y' head?"

"'Least I'd be alive."

Before he could respond, Rogue's eyes rooled back in her head as her lids fluttered closed and she went limp beneath him, appearing to faint.

"Rogue?" Remy's heart froze as he released her and leaned over her prone body. "Rogue, darlin', answer me."

He caressed her cheek and shook her limp form but she did not respond or even open her eyes.

(A/N: Please review for me, please, please?)


	8. Impasse

I don't think I have had this many reviews at one time for one chapter, thanks everyone. The reviews do help and I appreciate them. Here is a shout out to you loverly people. **Warrior zoe, ishandahalf, Frek, redsmileyface** (you'll see what's up in just a minute), **Kelly** (bows modestly, I'm glad you like it), **mazdamiatta, RogueFreak, Remy'sRogue** (maybe), I'm assuming its **SouthernLoner** and you just left out the "h", correct me if I am wrong (wouldn't you freak?), **inTHEgrid, Chica, BizarreLemon, Burning Touch, cooltangarine,** **Cemikey111** (who scared me a little) slowly backs up an puts Remy in front of me I know you can't be angry at him, no one can. And **Tammy**, (one but not the other). So here I go, I hurt my wrist and typing is slow with a brace and impossible without it, so you'll just have to bear with me if I don't get these chapters up right away.

Marvel owns all recognizable characters, except for Salah whom I kinda stole from Indiana Jones, whom Disney now owns. I own all unrecognizable characters. Seriously, Disney owns everyone, it's amazing. But that still doesn't stop me from going to Disneyland every couple of days, hahahaha! ahem Where was I? Oh, yes. . .

Chapter 8

Fear gripped Remy's heart with icy, skeletal fingers as he trailed down Rogue's throat, searching fro a pulse and although he was relieved to find one, he was terrified to find that she was no longer breathing.

"C'mon, _bebe_," he made one more attempt to awaken her before he had to start CPR. "Wake up."

Suddenly he felt her move and her knee jerked up between his legs and stopped just shy of doing some serious damage. Remy looked down at her knee, then back up at her face and was met by barely contained laughter in her dark, green eyes.

"_Merde_!" Remy whispered as Rogue slowly slid her leg back down. "What de hell ya think ya doin'?"

"Ah coulda grabbed an' twisted but Ah didn't reckon y'd like that."

"An' y' were right," Remy's face swiftly turned angry. "What was wit' y' scarin' me half t' death?!"

"Sorry," Rogue shrugged. "Ah was just demonstratin'."

"Demonstratin'?"

"Yeah, now are you satisfied that Ah can take care o' mahself or do Ah have ta kick y' ass again?"

"Who's on top a whom, here?"

Rogue rolled her eyes and sighed before tucking her knees in and kicking Remy square in the chest and off of her, to land flat on his back. He was so stunned at her actions that he did not get up fast enough to stop her from sitting on his chest and bringing her knees down on his shoulders, making any movements of his arms rather painful.

"Y' kicked me," he accused.

"Y' underestimated me," she answered. "Now who's on top, shugah?"

"Are we back ta dis issue?"

"No, but Ah- umph!"

Remy swung his legs up and wrapped them around her torso, trapping her arms at her sides and tried to drag her down but she was able to lock her legs around his head, trapping his head between her knees and they rolled to their side, panting for air, obviously at an impasse.

"Dat all ya got?" Remy asked, although he was enjoying his location very much.

"Not even close, swamp rat!"

"Y' at a disadvantage here, chere."

"Why is that?"

"'Cause I got y' arms trapped an' mine are free to roam," he smirked as his hands went to the juncture of her thighs. Before he could do more, she clamped her knees together hard around his head.

"Shit!" Remy hissed and withdrew his hands.

"Y'all are weird," an unexpected voice came from above them.

Rogue and Remy looked up to see Philippe leaning over the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room, shaking his head slowly.

"Don't ya knock?" Remy asked, indignantly but made no move to release his wife.

"I did," Philippe said. "Dere was no answer. I guess y' didn't hear me. Uddawise occupied, I see."

"How long were ya standin' dere?"

"Not long."

"So ya didn't see me kick his ass?"

"Sadly, _non_. But I b'lieve you, Anna."

"She didn' kick m' ass."

"Sure she didn'."

"But she did kick me in de chest."

"Big baby," Rogue muttered.

"Remy, let y' wife up," Philippe was desperately wishing he had a camera with him. This was definitely a Kodak moment.

"Why should I-?"

"Jus' do it, ya big baby!" Philippe nudged him with his foot.

"Whose side are y' on?" Remy growled as he released Rogue.

"Anna's," Philippe helped Rogue to her feet once she had unlocked her legs from Remy's head. "She be much betta lookin' den you."

"Den I let her tell y' dat she don' wanna go out t'day," Remy grumbled as he stood up and rubbed a few sore spots.

"Ah didn't say that," Rogue shot back. "Ah jus' said that Ah didn't need a chaperone."

"_Non_," Philippe agreed. "But Mina does."

"So dat's what y' after," Remy said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Y' wanna spend mo' time wit' Mina."

"Who's Mina?" Rogue looked from Remy to Philippe for an explanation. "An' what does she have ta do with mah leavin' this apartment?"

"Amina is Philippe's fiancé," Remy told her. "She de daughter o' Salah, de head o' de Moroccan branch. What y' tryin' ta pull, Philippe."

"I ain' pullin' nut'in," Philippe protested. "It be true dat Mina an' I don' get ta spend a whole lotta time t'gether but I meant it when I tol' you dat ya can't keep Anna locked up like dis. Salah offer ta escort Anna 'round personally an' he be bringin' Mina wit' him."

"Why don't you get to spend time with her?" Rogue asked Philippe.

"It be a cultural t'ing," Philippe told her. "Most o' our visits are supervised."

"'Cept fer de late night visits, eh, Philippe?"

"An' wit' her pere being who he is," Philippe ignored his cousin's comment and continued. "She be a target, goin' out on her own while she unmarried."

"I don't understand," Rogue said. "What does her not being married have to do with anything?"

"Whoever marries her will one day control de Moroccan branch," Philippe explained. "Since Salah had no sons and dis culture bein' as male dominated as it is, Salah made arrangements wit' Jean Luc fer someone in our fam'ly ta marry Mina. Both t' keep her safe an' ta ensure de survival of dis branch. Dey pick me."

"Y'all are sure into th' arranged marriage thing," Rogue said, with one delicate brow raised. "Does it always work out?"

"Most o' de time," Philippe answered. "Dis isn't de life f'r jus' anyone an' dey all usually have a good sense o' duty about it."

"It just seems so cold," Rogue said uncertainly.

"What about us, _chere_?"

"We're different, Remy."

"Are we? I assure you, _mon amour_," Remy leaned against the bar and smirked at his cousin. "Philippe an' de lovely Mina are quite enthusiastic about dis arrangement."

"In any event," Philippe turned his attention back to Rogue. "Mina will be comin' to Naw'lins after we be married for a little while an' I jus' thought if she already know someone over dere aside from me an' Remy. . ."

"Ah get it, Ah get it," Rogue said nodding. "When do they get here?"

"Dey'll be here wit'in de hour."

"Then Ah betta go get ready ta go out," Rogue gave both men a smile and headed into the bedroom.

A few moments later, Rogue was standing in front of her closet clad in a pair of jeans and her bra, trying to decide what top to wear when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind. She let out a giggle as her husband began to nuzzle at her neck.

"That feels nice," she said, leaning back into him. Then as a naughty smile crept over her face as she said: "Who is it?"

"What?" Remy growled, playfully.

Rogue laughed and turned to face him, not breaking out of his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed up into his lovely red on black eyes.

"Have Ah told you how beautiful Ah think your eyes are?"

He blinked, a bit taken aback. No one had ever said anything of the kind to him before. At best they accepted them and at worst, they called him a freak or a demon. He was nearly stoned once and here this beauty, with the greenest, loveliest eyes that would put the most exquisite emerald to shame, and she was calling his demon eyes beautiful. The only way he could think to respond was to kiss her, he had no words to answer her with so he put what he felt into his kiss and she responded in kind. When necessity and the lack of oxygen compelled them, they broke apart.

"Ah better finish gettin' ready, shugah," she said, stoking his cheek.

"I'm sorry I underestimated you," Remy told her, not ready to let go just yet. "I was jus' tryin' ta keep you safe. If anyt'ing ev'r happened to you, I don't know what I- "

"Ah know," Rogue put her fingers to his lips. "Ah know, shugah."

"How about I take you out tonight?" Remy kissed her forehead and then her nose. "Jus' you an' me in a candlelit booth, eating some exquisite Moroccan food?"

"Ah'd like that," Rogue said still gazing up at him. "Ya know we've never been out on a proper date."

"Dat a fac'?" Remy kissed her chin. "We jus' have to rectify dat, eh?"

He kissed her again. They were still kissing when Salah and Amina arrived, and their guests had to wait out in the living room with Philippe for a few moments but neither Rogue nor Remy cared much.


	9. That Was Her Name

A shout out to all my lovelies! **Warrior Zoe, Burning Touch, Cemikey111, Tammy** (thanks, that was my favorite part) **RogueFreak, inTHEgrid, Chica, Professor Horatio Hufnagel** (your name sounds extremely familiar but I just can't place it, but everyone read the dear professor's story, it's so fabulous).

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 9

Rogue absolutely loved Amina and Salah. They were incredibly jovial people with infectious laughter and she loved being around them. Before they had left their room, Remy had told her that Salah was not his real name; it was a nickname that he and Philippe had given him because the man bore such a resemblance to John Rhys Davis' character in the Indiana Jones movies. The cheerful head of the Moroccan Thieves Guild had never seen the movies but good-naturedly accepted the nickname and Rogue had to bite the inside of her cheek when she met the man to keep from shouting out: "Indy! Indy!" Remy caught her eye as he was leaving the apartment and winked, knowing full well what she was thinking. She had to avert her eyes to keep from laughing. She did do quite a bit of laughing that day, just listening to Mina and Salah play off of each other; Rogue told Remy later that it was like watching a scene from a Marx Brothers movie.

Mina acted as her tour guide and Salah seemed only too happy to follow along. They went to the various street fairs, markets and stores; all the while chatting like old friends. Rogue asking all about Rabat and Mina asking about America and New Orleans. When Rogue told Mina that Remy would be taking her out, Mina insisted that Rogue buy a new dress for the occasion and dragged her toward a small dress shop. The saleswomen spent an hour with them, knowing full well who the girls were and especially knowing who Salah was. It was just after three in the afternoon when the owner of the shop produced a dress that Rogue fell in love with and simply had to have. Emerald green silk that cascaded and rippled like a waterfall as it hugged the curves of her upper body and flared out at the waist, falling just above the knee. It was beautifully beaded and embroidered and the long, flowing sleeves nearly went past her fingertips. It was a bit low cut but Rogue knew that Remy probably wouldn't mind. One of the saleswomen however showed her a lovely green scarf made of soft muslin that wrapped around the shoulders and complimented the dress.

Mina found a pair of cream colored silk gloves for her so she would not feel so anxious about going around other people. When they had purchased everything along with the appropriate shoes, they headed back to Remy and Rogue's apartment by way of a few other shops. After buying some fruit from a street vendor, Rogue and Mina walked ahead under Salah's watchful eyes and discussed Mina's upcoming marriage.

"So, you're alright with this arranged marriage thing?" Rogue asked her.

"Of course," Mina answered. "I was a bit apprehensive at first, before I met Philippe but I'm perfectly fine with it now. He is such a kind and wonderful man."

"Y' in love with him," Rogue said when she saw the sparkle in Mina's dark eyes and a slight smile on her lips. "Ah guess that makes it better."

"Was not your marriage to Remy arranged as well?" Mina tugged on a lock of her long dark hair.

"Well, sort of," Rogue couldn't help but envy the girl's long silky hair and smooth coppery skin. "He was supposed ta marry mah step-sister, but well . . . things came up. But Remy and Ah fell in love, it made marriage easier."

"I remember Philippe saying something about that," Mina nodded. "He said that Remy was better off with you. He said you suited him better; as a wife and companion. Isn't that what a wife is supposed to be, a companion?"

"That's what Ah always thought," Rogue said, smiling as she thought of Remy. "Ah was so worried they would make Remy marry Belle, Ah don't know what Ah would've done if they had."

"She would not have been a companion?"

"That's fer sure. It was almost like she wanted ta possess him, like he was a prize an' not a person. Ah'm not sure if she was _in_ love with him. Even before Ah met him, she seemed ta make him unhappy."

"What did she think of your marriage?"

"Ah'm sure she wasn't happy about it, to say th' least," Rogue smirked. "They didn't tell her until after Ah had left th' country. Ah heard she rampaged about for awhile an' then split, looking for her swine of a brother. They're out causin' someone misery, ya can count on that."

"I hope she stays gone," Mina said firmly, already in the defense of Rogue whom she had just met. "I don't wish to ever meet her."

"Are y' an' Philippe getting' married b'fore we head back to Naw'lins?"

"Yes," Mina nodded. "I am so excited; I can't wait to be married. Is it as much fun as it seems?"

"Well," Rogue grinned at her. "Remy an' Ah have a lotta fun sometimes. There were just a lotta issues we had to get over first. Livin' with another person like that is a huge adjustment ta make. Ah think we're doin' alright now, though."

"It sounds wonderful. But what about," Mina glanced back at her father who was a few yards behind them and whispered: "Sex?"

"What about it?" Rogue looked over at Mina with one eyebrow raised. "Have you an' Philippe . . .?"

"Once," Mina said in a whisper. "Last week; while my father was out for the evening."

"And?" Rogue prompted.

"And it was amazing," Mina said and both girls dissolved into giggles. "What about you and Remy?"

"Well," Rogue grinned at the memory. "It was on the morning of mah eighteenth birthday; Remy had come to see me th' night before an' we fell asleep. When Ah woke up, he was still there an' well, one thing lead to another."

Both girls started to giggle again and from a few yards behind them, Salah smiled, his heart warmed by the thought of his daughter having a friend when she went to New Orleans.

XXX

Their evening out was perfect; Remy had been rendered speechless for a moment when he saw her in her new dress and he stole glances at her all evening. They sat at a secluded table in a corner of a beautiful and exclusive restaurant. It was quite authentic and traditional as they had to sit on plump cushions before the low table and eat the delicious Moroccan food with their fingers. They talked and playfully flirted like they did when they had first met; he told her a little of what he and Philippe were doing although he couldn't tell her much and they told each other about they way they grew up. After a desert of orange slices sprinkled with cinnamon; which were complimentary because they delighted the proprietor, made him think of his wife and when he was a newlywed; they were washed their fingers in the orange blossom water and left hand in hand.

They decided to walk the short distance back to their apartment as the evening was warm and the sky was clear. It was as though every star in the sky knew they were out and rushed out in all their glory only to be witnessed by the young couple below them. After a few moments of walking, they stopped to admire the night sky and because they wanted to revel in the beautiful moment. Rogue laid her head on Remy's shoulder and sighed, contentedly as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Are y' happy, _mon amour_?" He kissed her temple.

"So happy, Remy," she whispered. "Ah feel like Ah could burst, Ah'm so happy."

"_Je t'aime, ma chere_," he whispered into her hair. "_Je t'aime de plus en plus chaque jour_." (I love you more each day)

"Ah love you too, Remy. _De tout mon coeur_; Ah'm whole because of you." (With all my heart)

"_Mon amour_," he kissed her, softly, slowly and leisurely until they had to pull apart from lack of oxygen and he caressed her cheek as he whispered breathlessly to her: "_Ma vie_." (My life)

"Remy?" A semi-familiar voice stopped him from kissing her again and Remy looked up to see a semi-familiar woman heading toward him. "Remy, it's me."

Nareen, Remy thought glumly, as he suddenly remembered the half-dressed woman who had stormed angrily out of his apartment when he had called her Anna by mistake. That was her name.


	10. Heartache

**To: Chica, inTHEgrid, Burning Touch, Cemikey111, Tammy, Professor Horatio Hufnagal, Frek, RogueFreak, Southern Loner, sugoichicken, naemis, cooltangerine and Rogue14. **Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing my little story. (Curtsy)

It has taken me longer to update because as you know I am trying to write a trilogy and I have been trying to figure out how much to put in this part and what to save for the third part. So I appreciate your patience in my lack of updates as this season was an especially busy time for me, as well. But I'm glad that I could entertain some of you with my other story for the time being. So here, without further ado, is the next chapter.

Marvel owns all unrecognizable characters.

Chapter 10

Rogue hadn't said a word since it happened; upon their arrival at their apartment that night, she entered their bedroom, gathered up some bedding, threw them at his feet and shut the door with a considerable slam. Three days later, she still hadn't said a word; and Remy was still sleeping on the couch. She still did his cooking and cleaning but she refused his embrace. She went out everyday with Amina and Salah, was still quite cordial to Philippe but had nothing but silence and a cold shoulder for her husband. Remy could see that she was still fuming and he rather wished that she would give him a few bruises like the ones Nareen had received when she had tried to hang all over him that night; anything was preferable to her silence. Nareen had deserved it; she had draped herself over Remy, cooing that she had long since forgiven him but he did not seek her out again. She said she was willing to forgive him if he dropped the bit of baggage he had and went off with her. Rogue had situated herself between Remy and Nareen, telling the newcomer to get off her husband and go about her business on another street corner. The situation could have been resolved then and there had Nareen not had the bad sense to shove Rogue and call her a name that should not have been spoken to or by a lady.

It was then that Rogue grabbed Nareen's wrist, twisting her arm behind her back and pushed the woman's face against the nearest wall, telling said woman to shove off and never mess with her or her husband again if she knew what was best for her. It should have ended there but Nareen, having had her pride damaged, grabbed Rogue's shoulder as soon as she had been released and swung a fist. Rogue dodged it easily and let the woman fall forward, driven by her own momentum. Humiliated and beaten but too stupid to give up, Nareen got up from the ground and lunged at Rogue again, unfortunately making contact with her bare skin. The contact lasted under two seconds but it was enough to knock Nareen out cold and Rogue to turn a sharp eye at her husband with the knowledge of what had occurred before her arrival. Before Remy could sputter out a response, he was trying to keep up with her as she turned on her heel, leaving the groggy, would-be home-wrecker slumped on the ground and marched back to their apartment and the front door in his face.

They merely co-existed now. Remy tried to speak to her and she only answered what she had to. He hated sleeping on the couch, it was a comfortable couch but he had grown accustomed to sleeping beside her. He had grown accustomed to her soft, warmth cuddled up beside him every night. He had also grown accustomed to making love to his sweet wife whenever the mood struck him; which was quite frequently. She pulled out of his embraces and snubbed his attempts to woo her; she refused to let him back into the bedroom.

It wasn't so much what he had done, it was that he had done it while she was going through one of the worst experiences of her life and that he had assumed their relationship was over. That was what hurt her most; the fact that he had just given up on her, on them. She had to admit to herself that she missed him; she missed snuggling up to him in the night and feeling his soft, slow kisses waking her in the morning and the heat of their passion. By the fourth day, she was aching for him. That morning when she was fixing their bed, he came out from the shower in only his jeans, Rogue had to bite down hard on her bottom lip and turn away. Remy ran his hand through his still damp hair and turned in time to see Rogue bend over their bed, giving him a perfect view of her perfect bottom beneath the short nightgown she wore. He could feel himself reacting to what he saw and was across the room in less than a second; pushing her back against the bed and kissing her with ravenous fervor. Rogue moaned, kissing him back with just as much hunger and urgency.

He wedged his knee between her thighs, pushing her nightgown up around her hips and whispered sweet, erotic words as he kissed her.

"_Je veux vous. Je veux vous si mauvais." _(I want you. I want you so badly/so much)

Rogue closed her eyes as he rained kisses down on her and shivered from the heat being emitted by them both. Part of her was ready to give in and let him take her; it had been too long since they had last been together but there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her not to give in so easily, to make him suffer a little longer. She battled with herself; with her pride against her need and she knew she needed to settle the debate soon as his hand was caressing the inside of her thigh and was slowly inching upward. If it reached the juncture between, she would be lost. Angry at her own frustration, she let her pride take over.

"Stop," she breathed. He continued to kiss her, his lips traveling down to her throat. "Remy, stop."

"What?" he was lost, following the line from her throat to her shoulder with his lips.

"Ah said stop," she was a bit more forceful now and she pushed at his chest with her palms. "Ah want y' t' stop. Ah don't wanna do this."

"Yes, y' do," Remy sat up and gazed down at her. "How long y' gonna make us both suffer f'r dis, Anna?"

"Get off," Rogue said, turning away, unable to look at him.

He got off of her, both of them hating the feeling of the separation, and he stood over her as she sat up, still looking away. "I said I was sorry, Anna. I tol' y' I had no way o' knowin' what y' were goin' t'rough down in Naw'lins and I t'ought we was over wit'. Damn it, I didn't even sleep wit' her!"

"But y' were goin' to!" Rogue stood and hoped that the wobbly feeling in her knees wouldn't give her away. "Y' were ready ta jus' give up on what we had an' sleep with her!"

"I was drunk-"

"It doesn't matter!"

"I was missin' y'. I t'ought I'd lost you forever."

"Were there others?"

Remy froze as the words left her lips. "What do y' mean?"

"It ain't a difficult question, Remy," Rogue felt a knot form in her stomach when she saw him grow pale. "Were there other women b'fore her? Women who didn't run out when y' called them th' wrong name. Women y' brought back here when y' were drunk an' missin' me? Women y' brought here t' mindlessly fuck while that monster was makin' me so crazy that Ah didn't know up from down anymore?! Answer me! Were there anymore?!"

"Yes."

It was a simple word, softly spoken and with great reluctance but it struck her as hard and as painfully as a mack truck going eighty miles an hour. She didn't this kind of pain existed; even when Sabertooth had ripped out her throat, it hadn't hurt this much. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move; she could only sit, numb to everything but the pain that was rapidly growing stronger inside her heart. It was so much that she would have been glad if Creed were there to rip her heart from her chest, maybe then, it wouldn't hurt so much. It was a simple word and it devastated her in a way nothing else could. It took her a few moments to realize that he had pulled her into his arms and was trying to soothe her and as soon as she realized it, she knew she had to get away from him before the pain got worse.

"Ah, can't!" she pulled herself out of his grasp. "It's too much, it just hurts too much!"

She fled from him, locking herself in the adjoining bathroom and sliding down to sit against the door. He stood at the door, begging her, pleading with her to open the door so they could talk, so they could work it out. His words only compounded the hurt and she did the only thing she could; she cried. She sobbed and wept in an attempt to dispel the pain. The more she cried, the more tears that came and she couldn't stop them from coming out. She sobbed so hard it was difficult to breathe and at one point, she even thought she would throw up, even that would probably feel better.

The weeping did stop after a while; it was only because the only strength she had left she used to breathe. She lay on the floor, curled up in a tight ball against the door. He was still out there on the other side; he had stayed and listened to her tears, each sob like a lash on his heart. He had caused her pain and there was nothing he could do to make it right. He loved her so much that it hurt and he hurt with her. He sat there against the wall, wishing he could take her pain upon himself. Soon the shuddering breaths turned to deep even breathing and he knew that she had exhausted herself.

It was early evening before he dared make a move. Slowly he picked the lock on the door and opened it to find her asleep in a fetal position. He picked her up gently and laid her on their half made bed and covered her. He sat beside her watching her sleep. He was afraid. Afraid he had truly lost her. She would stay married to him, yes, but it was unclear if whether or not he would still have her heart.

He kissed her forehead softly and said: _"Je t'aime, mon coeur. Je suis desole._ I never meant to hurt you."

He left her to resume his exile on the couch, feeling unworthy of sleeping in the same room with her. He too fell asleep and like his wife, it was a sleep of pure exhaustion.


	11. Don't Say Ah've Lost Him

Thank you to all my reviewers: **Shenelle, cooltangerine, inTHEgrid, Cemikey111, Tammy, Chica, ishanahalf, Professor Horatio Hufnagel, Frek, Taco Bell 14, Romy's Luv, sugoichicken, troubledobsession, Rogue14, Illusion to life, Burning Touch and Purple Kitsune Satsu. has their notification system straightened out, and I know everyone's boxes have been flooded so I'll hold off on sending review replies. But until then, I'll give you all a shout out and say thanks so much for your reviews!**

Marvel owns all recognizable characters.

Chapter 11

Rogue stayed in bed until she heard Remy leave that morning; she really didn't want to see him. The anger she had felt the night before was there but she felt a bit numb and her head ached from crying herself to sleep. She showered and dressed but she didn't want to eat; she just wanted to sit in silence. Minutes ticked by without her notice and by noon, she finally shook herself and stood up. She found her cell phone and called her mother. Raven's phone rang a few times before she answered it, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Rogue?"

"Y' sound a bit outta breath, mama."

"Yes, your father-in-law just paid us a visit and I had to make sure he was off of the property before I could get back in the house."

"Are y'all still in Chalmette?"

"For now, I have too many things to keep track of right now to play house with that old man. Aside from that, he has his hands full with his daughter."

"Belle's still causin' problems?"

"Nothing to be concerned over. She's actually keeping everyone out of my way; we have been busy here, not that you've been checking in all that often."

"Ah'm sorry, mama," Rogue hesitated. "Ah've just had a lot t' deal with lately."

There was a short pause on the other end. "What did he do this time?"

"What makes y' think-"

"I am still your mother and I can hear it in your voice."

Rogue sighed, there was no hiding anything from Raven and she knew that part of her had called so she could vent; so after taking a deep breath, Rogue told her mother the whole story. Raven listened in silence until Rogue had finished.

"My darling," she said when Rogue had stopped talking. "You still have a lot to learn about men."

"Like what?"

"Like they're men. Of course he jumped into bed with another woman. He was cut off from you and if he figured your relationship was over, he had to find someone else. Men don't think with the head on their shoulders but the one between their legs."

"But Remy's different."

"He cheated on his fiancé with her step sister."

"That was different."

"When she was sleeping down the hall."

"Alright," Rogue grumbled. "Ah just thought he would be a lil' more broken up that we weren't together."

"He was. And that's how men deal with that sort of thing. In fact, it's how they deal with most things. I'm sorry, my darling, but you're just going to have to get over it."

"Get over it?" Rogue frowned at the phone. "Why should Ah? He cheated on me!"

"Technically, you weren't together so it wasn't cheating. Aside from that, he cheated on Bella Donna with you and it probably wasn't the first time he did something like that. You also have a mission to complete. I think I have been patient for long enough, Rogue. I knew you had feelings for LeBeau so I cut you a little slack but this has gone far enough. Reel him in and bring him back."

"So Ah'm just supposed t' pretend everything's fine?" Rogue was outraged. "Kiss and make-up?"

"That's exactly what I expect you to do," Mystique's voice held an air of finality. There was no arguing the point. "If you sleep with him when he gets back, he'll think it all blown over."

"Ah'm not a machine, mama, Ah can't just turn it on and off."

"You're going to have to learn. You know he'll worm his way back into your good graces eventually; why not save yourself the time and trouble by getting it over with now?"

"Why do Ah feel like y' pimpin' me out?"

"I'm telling you to complete your mission by sleeping with your husband. You agreed to marry him."

"If Ah hadn't he would have been married to Belle by proxy instead and we wouldn't have been able t' complete this mission."

"Of course we would have," Mystique snorted. "That boy would have been running to your bed as soon as he had consummated his marriage to Bella Donna. You'd have to put in an adjoining door between the rooms; otherwise, he'd wear out the carpet going from one room to the other."

"He wouldn't have gone back to Belle," Rogue pouted.

"Dogs always go back to their vomit."

"What?"

"Nothing, never mind," Raven sighed, tiredly. "Do you have a clear understanding of what your objective is?"

"Yes, mama."

"Good," Raven yawned. "And get back here as soon as possible, understand?"

"Ah'll do mah best, mama."

"I hope you will," Mystique yawned again. "Otherwise I'll have to intervene and you don't want me to do that."

XXX

Rogue made his favorite dinner. She lit candles all around their apartment and donned a sexy slip dress. Then, when everything was ready, she waited. And waited and waited. She actually fell asleep waiting and when the food had long gone cold and the candles had burned low, she awoke to find that he had still not returned. This was odd since they usually returned before dark since Philippe liked to have dinner with Amina. Rogue sighed in her irritation as she put the food away in the refrigerator and slipped out of the dress and into a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeved shirt. She went about blowing out the candles when she noticed an odd glow coming from behind the shades. It was like the setting sun but it was past nine pm and the sun had long since set. Shuffling over to the window, she pulled up the shades, only partly curious about the glow. She was annoyed with Remy for not returning home and already she was going over what she would say to him when he finally came back.

A scream formed in her throat when she opened the blinds but died there when she began to tremble too much to let it out. There was a massive fire a few streets over, that was what the glow had been and there was a huge pillar of smoke coming from whatever was on fire. A cold block settled heavily in her stomach when she knew that this was the reason Remy had not returned. She stood only for a moment longer before running out in her slippers toward the pillar of smoke.

When she reached the scene, the air was thick with smoke and ash but she could see that the authorities had it well under control and the fire was going out. The building that was burning down to cinders appeared to have been a bar and while some people were being treated for smoke inhalation, no one appeared to be seriously injured. Rogue looked about the scene, ready to return to the apartment when she recognized members of the Moroccan Guild stationed about and talking to someone who appeared to be the fire chief, was none other than Salah, himself. Rogue pushed through the crowd in an attempt to get to Salah but one of the firemen held her back.

"Let me through!" Rogue yelled at him, ready to knock him over if she needed too but fortunately, Salah saw her and came over to her.

""My dear," Salah led her away from the crowd. "What are you doing down here? You should be at home. It's too dangerous here."

"What happened here?" Rogue's eyes darted from Salah to the fire. "Remy . . . he hasn't come home yet. Is he here? Ah was worried when Ah saw the fire. Salah, where is mah husband?"

Salah looked down at her in what could only be described as pity and said: "I don't think I should be the one to tell you."

"No," Rogue whispered, tears springing into her eyes and a painful lump formed in her throat. She grabbed on to Salah's arm to steady herself as a heavy wave of despair crashed over her making her knees weak and her heart ache. "Don't say it. Don't say Ah've lost him."

(A/N: Don't kill the writer. Review instead.)


	12. Burning Ring of Fire

To: **RedSmileyFace, sugoichicken, RemysRogue, Southern Loner, gippal4ever, Tammy, cooltangerine, troubledobsession, Rogue14, Cemikey111, Chica, RogueFreak, Prof. H.H., warrior zoe, Shenelle, Burning Touch, inTHEgrid, ishandahalf, Illusion to Life, and fattywantapoptart**, thank you all so much for reviewing.

Marvel owns all recognizable characters

Chapter 12

"No!" Salah said looking extremely perplexed. "Nothing like that! He's fine, just fine! Well, almost."

"Almost?" Rogue felt as though she would kiss the man or kill him. "What do y' mean, 'almost'?"

"He is just a bit, well, intoxicated," Salah said meekly.

Rogue wanted to scream. "So he had nothin' t' do with this fire? He's off somewhere drunk? He's off somewhere drunk while Ah've been worried sick thinkin' somethin's happened t' him?!"

"Well," Salah hesitated. Although this girl was more than half his size, he did not want her temper aimed at him. Head of the Moroccan Theives Guild, though he was, this young girl with the glittering green eyes and lovely flushed cheeks was angry and he did not want any of it directed at him, so he was going to squeal like a pig; he was going to rat out Remy. "They completed their mission, Remy and Philippe, and they stopped in to celebrate. From what I heard, Remy had a bit too much, Philippe mentioned that you too had a quarrel, and then there was an altercation."

"What kinda altercation?" Rogue was fuming now. She had been so frantic before and so frightened that she had lost her husband that now she was enraged at the thought of him getting drunk and getting in some bar fight.

"There were a few men there, drunken reprobates, to be sure, and one of them made a comment about Remy's eyes," all six feet and three inches of Salah seemed to cower before this imposing and petite young girl. "Remy got angry and an argument ensued, which was followed by, er, physical jabs."

She wanted to hit something, she wanted to hit it hard until all of the anger, fear and indignation she felt went away; Salah took a step back as though he read her mind.

"Philippe took him back to his apartment to sober up," Salah offered, giving Rogue another target. "He didn't think you would want to see your husband in such a state. I'll take care of everything here and the newspapers will call this an accident in the morning."

Rogue frowned at him in confusion. "What was it that started th' fire?"

"Why, Remy's powers. It seems that he lost control when he got upset and things around him started to explode; one being a gas line. But no one was seriously harmed and the owner has insurance. The public will never hear of it."

"Ah need t' get home," Rogue said, her demeanor had changed and she seemed a bit absent and dazed.

"Wait," Salah said, noting the change in her. "Let Rama escort you, you remember Rama."

She did, vaguely; he had accompanied her and Mina while they shopped a few times when Salah had been busy. Rogue barely acknowledged the young man that hurried over to her and said an absent farewell to Salah before heading back to her apartment. Philippe's apartment was on the level below theirs; Rogue didn't think anyone else lived there but the building was owned by the guild and other members occupied the other rooms below the two penthouse suites from time to time. Rama did not try to engage her in conversation as he saw that she was perplexed and merely acted as her escort. She went straight to Philippe's floor and Rama went back down to the lobby in case Rogue decided to leave again. Once he knew she had settled for the night, he would report back to Salah.

XXX

Philippe was expecting the knock on his door but what he was not expecting, was the one who stood outside his door; Rogue looked glorious in her rage and more than a little frightening.

"Where is he?" Her voice was low and barely controlled.

"He's on de couch," Philippe said after letting her in. "I was goin' t' let him sleep it off an' den let 'im go home. I was goin' t' come over an' tell y' so y' wouldn't be worried, honest I was."

"As soon as Ah saw th' fire Ah was worried Philippe," Rogue ran a hand through her hair. "Ah was scared t' death as soon as Ah knew that he was involved; an' now Ah'm furious that he was out getting' drunk an' brawlin' in some bar fight while Ah was waitin' f'r him t' come home so we could make up from that stupid fight we had!"

"He was upset, _chere_," Philippe said softly, hoping that she would lower her voice as well. Remy was in no condition to deal with her at that time. "He been upset since you two started dat fight; but t'night, he more upset den I ev'r see him. He was t'inkin' he be losin' y' an' dat why he drank too much. Den when one o' de men at de bar see his eyes . . . Y' know how sensitive he be 'bout his eyes."

Rogue said nothing but brushed past Philippe as she entered the front room to find Remy snoring away on the couch; whole, alive and safe. She was so relieved and angry at the same time she didn't know what to do, except for cry. A lump had formed in her throat the moment she had seen the fire had only grown more painful and now she released the tears that she had been holding back in an attempt to expel that painful lump. The wave of relief that rushed over her was so sudden and heavy that her legs nearly gave out from under her. They would have if Philippe hadn't caught her as she swayed, catching her and leading her to a nearby chair. She sat, letting him guide her as her vision was so prismed by tears, she couldn't see even a few feet in front of her and she couldn't seem to breathe and stand at the same time.

When most of the painful sobs had been expelled, Rogue took and deep shuddering breath as she ground away the tears with a small fist. Her vision cleared she gazed on the man sleeping on the couch; watched his chest rise and fall, listened to the faint drunken snoring and felt the overwhelming need to strike him.

"Damn you!" Came the fierce whisper through her clenched teeth. "Damn you, it hurts!"

"Anna?" Philippe put a light hand on her shoulder.

"It hurts," she whispered as she put her head in her hands. "It hurts. It burns and tears and . . . Oh, God, why does it hurt so much."

"Hurt? Where are y' hurt?" Philippe was slightly panicked as Rogue began to rock slowly in the chair. She smelled a bit like smoke and that told him she had been by the bar but had she been hurt down there.

"Ah hurt inside," Rogue murmured. "He does it to me but do Ah make him feel this too?"

"Anna, I don' understand," Philippe knelt down in front of her.

"Love," Rogue looked up at him, her face tear-streaked and full of anguish. "It burns. It hurts so much. As wonderful as it can be, it can be just as awful."

Philippe was at a loss for words, he was only beginning to know that feeling of love himself and he didn't know if there were any words comfort for her now. "He loves y' Anna," he finally said. "Dat's what I do know."

"Ah know," Rogue took a deep breath and stood up; she looked at Philippe, her eyes a bit clearer now. "An' Ah love him. Now help me get him home."

"We can jus' let 'im sleep it off here an' tomorrow you two can-"

"No," Rogue shook her head, looking quite calm now. "Ah want him t' wake up in his own bed. Then we can discuss this. He ain't gonna get a chance to avoid me or think up any ways t' charm me from talkin' 'bout this. Its jus' gonna be me an' him when he wakes up. We are gonna settle this an' Ah am either gonna kill him or kiss him when he wakes up but right now, Ah ain't sure which one its gonna be."

(A/N: See, Remy's alive, at least for now. June Carter wrote The Ring of Fire to describe her love for Johnny Cash and that song was my inspiration for this chapter.)

_Love is a burning thing,_

_And it makes a fiery ring,_

_Downed by wild desire,_

_I fell into a burnin' Ring of Fire._

_I fell into a burnin' Ring of Fire,_

_I went down, down, down,_

_And the flames went higher._

_And it burns, burns, burns,_

_The Ring of Fire,_

_The Ring of Fire. _


	13. And It Burns, Burns, Burns

Thank you to all those who took the time to review: **Illusion to Life, fattywantapoptart, ishandahalf** –my sentiments exactly, **inTHEgrid, sugoichicken, Burning Touch, Cemikey111, Remy's Bride, mazdamiatta, Prof. H. H., Tammy**- isn't it great how she can do that?, **troubledobsession**- I'm glad he didn't die too, **warrior zoe**- LMAO!, **cooltangerine, Southern Loner**- isn't that a relief**?, Rogue Freak**- LOL!, **Rogue14**, **RemysRogue**- I love it too! And **Shenelle!**

Chapter 13

He was stirring; just barely after 1pm he became aware of the dull ache in his head that was fast becoming a throbbing pain; but the room was pleasantly dark and devoid of noise so he didn't bother to force open his heavy eyelids. That's when he realized that he was lying on a bed and the last thing he remembered before passing out was crashing on Philippe's couch. He inhaled deeply, catching the subtle scent of Rogue's perfume and was comforted; until his brain cleared a bit more and he realized he didn't remember coming home. He was still alive and the only pain he felt was from his hangover so he knew she hadn't killed him. He suddenly became aware of her quiet movements in the house and was amazed that she seemed to be allowing him to sleep off his hangover. That began to worry him- perhaps it would be wiser and safer to stay still. He froze when he sensed her move toward him; she was right up to the edge of the bed and still he didn't move. If she thought he was still asleep, perhaps she wouldn't kill him until after his head stopped hurting.

"Remy," her sweet voice was barely a whisper. "Are y' awake, shugah?"

He didn't respond, he didn't move; it couldn't be that easy.

It wasn't. The silence of the room was painfully shattered as the opening of No Doubt's Excuse Me Mister, flooded from the stereo at an excruciatingly loud volume and made him sit up, clutching his head in agony. The pain in his head was doubled from the sudden movement and his belly rolled with nausea. A moment later the blinds were pulled back and the blindingly bright sunlight poured into the room, causing Remy to cry out in pain as he tried to bury his head in his arms to try and block it out. He had never felt such agony before and he knew that she was going to kill him slowly and very painfully.

"What's th' matter, darlin'?" Rogue shouted over Gwen Stefani. "Ah thought y' liked this song? Y' best get up, sweetheart, y' sleepin' th' day away! Just look at all that gorgeous sunshine!"

After a moment, he squinted up at his wife who had mercifully moved away from the offensive sunlight and was standing before him with the sweetest, fakest smile on her face. With a look he knew was incredibly pathetic, he implored her to have mercy on him. She slowly reached over to the stereo and shut it off before moving to the window and shutting the blinds again.

Mornin' shugah," she said with a syrupy-sweet smile on her face that did not quite reach her eyes. "Y' give?"

He nodded, miserably and she handed him a glass with what appeared to be tomato juice in it; as soon as he took it, his stomach lurched again. Rogue crossed her arms expectantly and Remy forced the glass to his lips. As soon as he took a swallow, he recognized the worstersheir sauce and gagged but the look that came over her face told him that he dare not let any of it come up. She really was trying to kill him.

"It's a counter irritant," she said quietly, after he had finished the entire glass. "Mama said it would help. Ah'm going to make y' some coffee. Ah suggest y' shower an' dress 'cause we need t' talk."

Remy watched her leave the room and knew there was no escaping his fate; so he mustered up all his strength to stand and begin the long, treacherous three yards to the shower.

When he finally emerged from their room and made his way to the kitchen, wincing with each step that jarred his aching head, she had a fresh pot of coffee and toast waiting for him. She handed him a bottle of aspirin as he sat opposite her at the kitchen table and waited for him to finish his breakfast. He had to admit that the concoction she had given him earlier had helped a bit, as did the coffee and aspirin but he still felt awful; but he wasn't sure if it was from the hangover or from letting her down once again.

"Ah made y' yer favorite dinner last night," she said after a very long silence. She spoke quietly and kept her eyes on the table top. "Ah waited so long for y' that Ah fell asleep an' th' food got cold."

He kept his eyes on his coffee cup; he couldn't look up at her, afraid to see the hurt and anger that should be on her face. Her voice was still low and unhurried, betraying nothing of her true feelings.

"Ah didn't know how late it was when Ah woke up," she continued. "It was still light out when Ah woke up but Ah came t' find that it wasn't sunlight that was lightin' th' sky; it was th' light from th' massive fire burnin' half of Rabat. Ah knew that was th' reason y' weren't back yet."

Remy looked up at her face when she paused and saw that she was struggling to hold back the tears that had filled up her vision.

"Ah was so scared," she continued, her voice wavering. "Ah ran down there an' Ah saw Salah."

"Y' shouldn't have gone-" his words died in his throat when she looked up at him, her eyes flashing.

"Shouldn't have gone?" Rogue was struggling to speak, her anger mixing with the remembered anguish. "Ah thought you were hurt or . . . Damn you!"

Rogue stood and moved over to the nearby counter, her back to him, she needed to put some more distance between them and she kept her back to him as she took a few deep breaths to steady herself. Remy came up behind her and pulled her into his arms to comfort her; she attempted to pull away but he held her back firmly against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She relented after a moment and surrendered to his soothing caresses. She let the tears flow freely now; she was so relieved that he was there with her, that he was whole, alive and safe.

"I'm so sorry, darlin'," he whispered into her ear as he kissed the soft flesh just below it.

"What are y' sorry for, Remy?" she suddenly stiffened in his arms.

"_Quoi_?"

"What are y' sorry for?" Rogue repeated her question as she turned to face him. "Are y' sorry for stayin' out late an' getting' drunk? Are y' sorry 'bout th' fire? Or f'r Nareen an' th' others?"

"Rogue, I . . ."

"Are y' sorry that Ah found out?" Rogue's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are y' sorry that Ah found y' before y' sobered up? Or is that just a word y' usin' t' try an' make this all go away?"

"I'm sorry f'r ev'rythin'," Remy reached for her again only to have her back up another step. "I jus' want us t' be able t' put dis all behind us an' go back t' th' way t'ings were."

"We can't go back," Rogue told him. "We can never go back. That part is over, Remy, th' blinders are off an' it'll never be th' same. We can try an' move on from here but we can't go back. We have t' work through this first."

"We can," Remy pulled her to him again. "We love each other an' dats all we need. Dis will all work itself out if we- "

"Work itself out?!" Rogue threw off his hands again. "This is our marriage, it won't work itself out! These things don't just work themselves out; so many people have worked things out f'r y' that y' think they work themselves out. Just like y' fam'ly's always workin' things out f'r y'; like Salah coverin' up that fire f'r y' an' Philippe takin' y' t' sober up before seein' me. If y' want us t' last _we_ have t' work it out, y' an' me together, not just me."

"I'm tryin', Anna," Remy began.

"No, y' not!" Rogue cried in frustration. "We were havin' problems so y' went out an' got drunk!"

"I missed y'," he insisted. "I t'ought I was losin' y'!"

"Y' missed me an' y' thought y' lost me so y' slept with other women," Rogue no longer held her tears back but let them flow freely down her face. "Y' missed me an' y' thought y' lost me so y' went an' got drunk. When are y' goin' t' start takin' responsibility f'r y' own actions? Y' were bein' selfish an' reckless an' someone coulda gotten hurt las' night! It could very easily have been you! Y' coulda killed someone! Who would y' have blamed then? D' y' really think th' guilds can sweep a corpse under th' rug? Ah'm sure they could but Ah know y', Remy, somethin' like that would eat away at y' an' y'd never be able t' f'rgive y'self. Is that when y' finally take th' blame? As long as everythin' goes th' way y' want it t', y' fine but th' minute somethin' goes wrong, y' don't want t' deal with it."

"Den lets deal wit dis, _chere_," he told her. "Here an' now, 'cause I can't loose y'. I'll do anyt'ing t' make dis work."

"Remy have y' ever really thought 'bout marriage? "Cause Ah'd wager that aside from th' honeymoon y' never gave it much thought."

"I know dat from de first moment I met y', I couldn't imagine m' life wit'out y'. Dere was somet'in' between us from de very beginin', y' had t' have felt it."

"Ah did an' Ah love y' so much that it hurts but is that enough, Remy? Is love enough?"

"It has t' be!" He pulled her once more into his arms and kissed her forehead. "If it isn't, den I'll find a way t' give y' more. I'll give ev'ryting I got, Rogue, as long as y' promise t' do th' same and it has to be enough. Promise me."

"Ah promise," Rogue whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Ah promise, Remy."

He kissed her cheeks, catching the tears that rained down them, the ones that mingled with his own until he found her lips and then he kissed her as if she would be snatched away from him at any moment. She kissed him back with the same fervor, clinging to him as the only sold thing in her dizzy, complex and complicated world. Neither was aware of how they had gotten there but soon, they were on the couch, the couch Remy had slept on for so many nights, missing her, longing for her and they were making love to each other like it would be the last time. With gentle, thorough caresses, they couldn't stop touching one another, kissing one another and when they finally shared their mutual climax, they knew they would never be able to give the other up. They were part of each other and they could no more separate than remove their own hearts. They loved each other over and over, satisfying every desire, every need, shuddering in their climaxes that were as emotional as they were physical. Finally, they fell sleep there, together, tangled up with the other and neither had ever experienced a more peaceful sleep than they had that day.

(A/N: I planned on more in this chapter, kids, but this was actually quite exhausting. Some of you may recognize the lines I borrowed from X-Men #45, they just felt right here.)


	14. Leaving Morocco

**To: Ishandahalf, gippal4ever, inTHEgrid, warrior zoe, Tammy, Prof. H. H., Illusion to Life, fattywantapoptart, Remy's Bride, Burning Touch, Cemikey111, cooltangerine, TroubledObsession, RogueFreak and a shout out to RogueCatWoman, who just joined our little party. **Thanks for the reviews everyone!

Disclaimer: All offers void in Utah and Nevada; Marvel owns all recognizable characters.

Chapter 14

They wanted to spend the whole day together with no interruptions; to discuss anything between them that might be or become an issue, and do all of this in each other's arms; but that wasn't to be. It began when they were sitting on the couch together-- or rather Remy was sitting on the couch with Rogue on his lap, trying to find that spot on Rogue's neck that made her nearly purr with pleasure— but a knock at the door brought a annoyed growl from them both. Rogue reluctantly got up and Remy went over to answer the door. Philippe looked over his cousin as soon as Remy answered the door to make sure that he was all in one piece.

"I was worried so I came t' see y'," Philippe said, looking between Rogue and Remy.

"Worried 'bout what?" Remy closed the door behind him.

"I t'ought mebe Anna shot y' or somet'in'."

"Not yet, Philippe," Rogue said dryly and went into the bedroom to let the two men speak. As she was leaving, she called over her shoulder: "But it took restraint."

"We okay," Remy told his cousin.

"_Bon_," Philippe gave a pleased nod before saying a bit lower. "I jus' t'ought y'd like a lil' warnin' dat y' _pere_ be here in Rabat, _homme_."

"He here?" Remy looked puzzled. "_Pourquoi_?"

"_Je ne sais pas_." (I don't know)

"He come to see y'?"

"Non," Philippe shook his head. "De plane land early dis mornin' an' den he go t' see Salah firs', I find out fr'm one o' his people. Dey say he be comin' here next."

"Alright," Remy said with a frown. "_Merci_, Philippe."

Rogue came out of the bedroom when she heard the front door close and found Remy frowning and staring out into space.

"Philippe left?"

"_Oui_," Remy said absently.

"Y' okay, shugah?" Rogue stood beside him and reached up to stroke his cheek. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"_Non_. Prolly not," Remy looked down at her and closed his hand over hers. "It's just dat _ma_ _pere_ be here."

"Is that a problem?"

"_Non_," he gave her a reassuring smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "It shouldn't be."

"Ya think it's about th' fire?"

"I don't t'ink so, _bebe_," he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. "He couldn't have found out dat quickly."

"Ah hope ev'rthin's alright at home. Th' last time Ah talked t' mama . . ."

"What?" he asked when she broke off. "What she say?"

"She said that Belle and Julien were stirrin' up trouble. Ya don't think they'll try an' break off our marriage or somethin', do ya?"

"_Non_, honey," Remy pulled her close, hating the worry that puckered her smooth brow. "Dey won' do dat. Cause mo' harm den good. Nutin' gonna split us up, darlin', not de guilds or anyone. _Je ne vous les permettent pas de prends loin de moi_." (I won't let them take you away from me)

"Promise?" Rogue buried her face against his chest.

"_Promettre, chere. (_Promise, dear_) Je vous aime si beaucoup_." (I love you so much) "_Je ne vais pas à détaché l'autre moitié de mon coeur_. _Je ne suis pas entier sans vo_s, _mon amour, ma vie_." (I'm not going to loose the other half of my heart. I'm not whole without you, my love, my life.)

Rogue looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes and she bit down on her lip to keep them from falling; but as her mouth touched his, he felt them roll down her cheeks. Her arms went around his neck and his around her waist, getting as close as they could to one another, as though they could bypass their clothing and even their bodies to bury themselves into the others soul. She parted her lips to deepen the kiss and he responded, his tongue moving against hers, tasting her, loving her. Her fingers stroked the nape of his neck and tangled in and out of his hair as his hands roamed up and down her back. Remy tore his mouth from hers and traveled slowly down her throat, liking very much the sudden hitch in her breathing. A knock sounded at the door then, strong but polite. Rogue and Remy looked at one another, hoping that they had imagined it and looked to the other to confirm that hope, but to their dismay, there was another knock a few moments later. Rogue let out a soft moan of frustration as they broke apart, smoothing out any rumpled clothing or mussed hair and headed for the door. Rogue stood a few feet behind Remy, tugging on a pair of gloves as Remy opened the door.

Jean Luc LeBeau stood in the doorway, looking rather dapper in a well-tailored suit, if Rogue didn't know better, she would assume he was a powerful business mogul that had strayed from Wall Street. He greeted his son and daughter-in-law warmly, they sat and exchanged pleasantries but it was a farce; Jean Luc had come for an unpleasant reason and Rogue and Remy were waiting for the other shoe to drop. After a few moments of this, Remy broke through the formalities.

"We know dis ain't a social call, _père_. Why y' here?"

Jean Luc took a deep breath and seemingly prepared himself for an argument as he spoke. "I'm here t' bring Anna back wit' me."

Panic squeezed Rogue's heart and constricted her throat as she clutched Remy's hand.

"_Non_," Remy said firmly, shaking his head. "M' wife stayin' wit' me."

"I'm not tryin' t' split de two o' y' up," Jean Luc tried to reassure them when he saw their faces. "Y' needed in Chalmette, Anna. It be y' grand-mère."

"Is she alright?" Rogue found her voice once she knew she wasn't going to be forced from Remy; she was worried but couldn't help remembering Raven's threat to intervene. "What's the matter with her?"

"She not well," Jean Luc said gently. "She been in Chalmette since y' left but she not well. I came to fetch y' so your maman could stay wit' her. Marius is busy in Shreveport, Julien makin' trouble up dere an' he couldn't come t' get y'. We need t' leave as soon as soon as possible."

XXX

Remy had to stay a few days in Rabat before going back, he had to help Philippe deal out Salah's cut of what they had just liberated as they were working within his territory, they had to fence what they could and get what they couldn't back to New Orleans without alerting customs. Philippe would be staying until the end of the year, until he and Amina were married and then he would bring her back to New Orleans. It would be three, four days at the most before Remy could return home which did not seem so long; until he lay awake and alone in the bed he had shared with Rogue that night. He had been busy all that day after she left with Jean Luc but that night, he missed her acutely. That past week he had missed sleeping beside her, but at least she had been in the next room; now she was going to another continent. He hugged her pillow, breathing in her soft, lovely sent and thought of the previous night they had spent together on the couch.

"_Je vous manque si beaucoup de, mon amour_," (I miss you so much, my love.) Remy whispered against her pillow as he fell into a fitful sleep.

XXX

On top of missing Remy, Rogue was incredibly anxious over Irene's condition; she had just spoken to Raven the day before and her foster mother had said nothing about Irene being ill. The flight back to Louisiana and the long drive to Chalmette felt like an eternity for Rogue and as soon as Jean Luc turned the car into the long gravel driveway that led to the sprawling white house, Rogue was ready to jump out of the vehicle and run the rest of the way. Emille met them at the door, looking a bit weary and Rogue knew there was something wrong, perhaps not with Irene, but something on her mother's face wasn't right.

"She's resting at the' moment," Raven told her after Jean Luc had brought Rogue's luggage to the house. "You can see her in a bit, but for now, let her rest."

Rogue stood at the foot of the stairs and looked up, hoping to see Irene there but knew she was in her room. When she turned back, however, she noticed Raven and Jean Luc speaking quietly in the doorway. She watched them and was surprised to see Jean Luc take her mother's hand and as his face showed sympathy, Rogue plainly saw him run his thumb along her knuckles before he kissed them. Turning her head back to the landing of the stairs, Rogue was even more suspicious of Raven. When she heard Jean Luc leave, Rogue faced Mystique with an accusing stare.

"What have y' been up t', mama? What's th' matter with Irene?"

"Nothing's wrong with Irene," Raven said, shifting back to her natural form as soon as she heard Jean Luc's car drive off. "I just needed you back here."

"Y' could've told me 'bout y' plan instead of worryin' me like that."

"I wanted you to have a genuine reaction," was all Raven said as they headed up the stairs.

"What was all that by th' door wit' Jean Luc?" Rogue asked after another moment.

"I suppose he feels sorry for poor little Emille," Mystique said with a smirk. "She's going through such a trial right now and that poor excuse of a man she's married to isn't much help to her. He's too busy trying to control his worthless children to be there for his wife."

"Y' playin' on his sympathies."

"So?"

Rogue said nothing but she didn't like to see Raven trying to manipulate her father-in-law. When they reached Irene's room, Rogue ran in to greet the woman, hugging her tightly and sat down on the chair beside her.

"I'm sorry Rogue," Mystique said as Rogue began chatting with Irene. "Something has come up and I need to send you on a mission. Since Remy is still in Rabat and everyone thinks you're here at Irene's bedside, we won't need to make up any excuses."

"Where are we going?" Rogue asked.

"New York."

"We're goin' t' New York? Th' state that's just crawlin' with X-Men?"

"Why, darling," Mystique smirked. "You're not afraid of a few X-Men, are you?"

(A/N: dun, dun, dunn!)


	15. SNIKT!

Sorry kids, I had a bit of writers block on this story but fortunately, writing some of my other fics helped to get the creative juices flowing. I thank you for your patience and continued support of this fic. It's my baby and I don't want it to turn dull or lose the emotion I hope I am imparting to it. To: **warrior zoe, cooltangerine, Yezabel, Rogue14, mazdamiatta, fattywantapoptart, Chica, redsmileyface- (Mystique stoned? I don't know about that but something will come up that she won't be too happy about), ishandahalf, Frek, Prof. H.H., Burning Touch, Cemikey111, Tammy-(yeah, I always felt sorry for Marius in the comics so my sympathy is being played out here), inTHEgrid, RogueFreak, Remy's Bride and Nightmare Monster, thanks for your reviews.**

**Marvel owns all recognizable characters and I just ran out of coffee.**

**Chapter 15**

A severe storm over the Atlantic had delayed Remy's return although since Rogue would be in New York, under the guise of taking Irene to a hospital there, she was a bit relieved; she still missed him terribly but she wanted to be there when he returned home. He was in London when he called her cell phone and told her of the delay. She told him the truth; she did not want yet another lie between them and since he knew some of her activities with the Brotherhood, she didn't hesitate to let him in on their mission. She could tell he was upset, she was possibly putting herself in harm's way but he understood.

"Y'll be careful, _chere_," he said over the phone. "Promise me."

"Ah will be, shugah," Rogue smiled at his concern. "It's a simple fact-finding mission. There's evidence that a private agency is keepin' tabs on mutants; who they are, where they live, what their powers are- we can't let that information get in th' wrong hands."

"I know, but can y' blame me for bein' worried?"

"No," Rogue smiled. "But Ah think its sweet."

"Y' smilin'."

"How'd y' know that?"

"I can hear ya."

"Ya can hear me smile?"

"Oui."

Rogue's grin became wider until she caught Raven's disapproving eye. "Ah gotta go now, shugah. Y'all just get back ta me in one piece, ya hear?"

"_Vous aussi, le bien-aimé_."

Rogue went to stand out on the balcony of their hotel suite. "Ah love you."

"_Je vous aime aussi, mon chérie_."

She would much rather have been with him; Rogue made her way into the privately owned building in Manhattan and tried to keep her mind focused on the matter at hand. Mystique had already infiltrated the building, disguised as a security officer and ensured the entrance of Rogue and Pyro into the basement where the files they sought were kept. It went smoothly as they worked in silence and Mystique kept a watchful eye on the monitors; the security recordings had been placed into a loop, ensuring that no one would ever know they were there. The files were located and destroyed, both the paper and computer files on all of the registered mutants. It went more smoothly than they had planned so when the real security guard, the one Raven was impersonating showed up, and they almost expected it. Rogue and Pyro made it out of the building and Mystique was able to subdue the guard, but not before he set off and alarm. Upon hearing the alarm, Rogue and Pyro split up, they would all meet up at their hotel later but it was best to split up to avoid attention. They would have gotten away too, had a few of the X-Men not been out for a little R&R in the city. Rogue kept the hood of her dark green costume over her head and took several alleys to avoid detection. She had been told to proceed to their suite, even if the others got caught, and she would have; had Pyro and Mystique not been surrounded by Nightcrawler and Storm.

Rogue stood in an alley, hidden from view and watched the ensuing altercation, hitting a button on her communicator that alerted the other members of the Brotherhood of trouble. She kept her hood on and stayed put as Raven and St. John seemed to be holding their own. Slowly she slipped off one of her gloves, lest she have to resort to using her powers on one of them. It was then that she heard a strange sound that came from right below her right ear. SNIKT. Immediately afterward, she felt three very sharp points at the base of her neck.

"So tell me, darlin'," a gruff voice came from behind her. "Ya just gonna stand there an' let yer teammates have all th' fun?"

She had been briefed on all the X-Men; she knew who he was and she also knew that the Wolverine was the most dangerous of them. He wouldn't attack though, not without provocation, so she just had to figure out a way to get away from those claws and get a little room to maneuver.

"What makes ya think Ah'm with them?" Rogue attempted to control her breathing. If Wolverine was anything like Sabertooth, he would be able to hear her heartbeat, her breath and smell any fear.

"Ya reek o' th' Brotherhood."

"Reek? Ah've never had gentlemen use those words to describe mah scent," Rogue turned slowly to face him, but did not attempt to remove her hood. She raised her hands slowly into the air and kept them where he could see them. "Do Ah really smell that bad, shugah?"

"Don't try ta charm me, Dixie," Wolverine snarled. "Mystique should've told you that it doesn't work on me."

"She didn't tell me y'all were as rude as to try an' break mah poor, simple country-girl's heart."

"Th' moonlight an' magnolias won't work on me kid, I already told ya. So do yourself a favor an' surrender quietly."

"If that's th' way it has ta be then," Rogue shrugged but her voice took on a different tone, lower and more seductive as she strode close enough to feel his claws against her throat again. "Ah'm y' prisoner. Do what y' will with me; over an' over."

Wolverine snorted indifferently but he made a few mistakes that told Rogue she had gotten to him; first a slight flick of his eyebrow and a quick appraisal of her told Rogue everything she wanted to know. His claws had also retracted. She was well aware of how her costume clung to her curves; it was something Raven had taught her long ago to take advantage of.

Suddenly from behind them was a sharp cry as Mystique got the upper hand with Storm and Wolverine looked away for a split second; it was all Rogue needed. She dropped down, kicking Wolverine's feet out from under him with one sweep of her leg and the other leg kicked out, ensuring that he landed hard. She jumped up and drove her elbow into his throat, hoping to take him out for a few minutes but as she dove over him, he caught her by the ankle. She fell hard on her shoulder and cried out as a sharp jolt of pain shot up her arm. Having taken Storm down, Mystique was already attacking the hairy X-Man, giving Rogue a chance to scramble away. As she did so, however, she noticed the change in his demeanor, he was angry; her blows must have hurt him and Mystique wasn't giving up anytime soon; it was frustrating him. Perhaps he had been having a bad day before hand, perhaps Mystique was so intent on protecting her daughter, she didn't notice the rage coming on, or perhaps Rogue was not as experienced as she thought; it might have been a combination of all these factors but in the end, they weren't sure how they could have prevented what happened next.

Rogue had scrambled a few feet away and since a glance told her that Pyro was holding his own with Nightcrawler, she watched her mother battle Wolverine; she watched until she saw the claws come out again and come up to take a swipe at Mystique. She reacted purely out of instinct, jumping up and pushing her mother out of the way, so when Mystique hit the ground and looked up, she saw Rogue facing Wolverine once more. Yet this time, there were three sharp points sticking out from her back; they had gone straight through her and were sticking out the back.

There was a collective cry from the four other super-powered beings around them, but neither Rogue nor Wolverine made a sound. The force of his blow had caused her hood to fly back and Wolverine stared into the face of what he perceived to be a child; technically and adult, perhaps, but too young to be with the Brotherhood, and way too young to be on the end of his claws. A second later, she began to slump and he retracted his claws to catch her, horrified as he stared into her deep, green eyes. Mystique let out a shriek beside him but he didn't hear her, the barely conscious Storm cried out to him and Nightcrawler cried out to God, in horror at what he saw; but Logan didn't hear them. He saw only Rogue, the girl with the deep red swell growing wider across her chest. His claws had gone through her lung and from the sound of it, it was already collapsing. He was in shock and that had never happened to him before, at least not that he could remember, he could never remember killing one so young before and he only saw her. Her deep green eyes growing dull and her pale hand reaching up to touch his face. Her skin was so soft but he felt an odd pulling sensation; he saw her eyes well with tears and then change from green to blue; just like his. A moment later, he saw no more.

(A/N: This is not the last of the X-Men, I promise. But please, review and let me know what you think.)


	16. More Bad Dreams

No, you're not seeing things, it's really me and its really an update. My muse has returned at long last. Thanks so much to everyone who left a review and added this to their favorites, I'll try to get more updates soon.

Chapter 16

She was running, from what, she wasn't sure but she knew that she had to get away and the only way out was …through the forest? It was freezing, snowing and she was barefoot, in fact, it felt as though she wasn't wearing much at all but she was in pain. There were tubes and needles stuck all over her; she pulled them out as she ran… the backs of her hands felt so funny. Her chest hurt from the cold and from the running, she could hear them, they were searching for her, she could hear dogs barking and sirens blaring but where was she and why were they after her. She stopped at a nearby tree to catch her breath; it was then that she realized that she had blood all over her. She ran her hands along her body but she didn't seem to have any wounds; but then whose blood was it? The backs of her hands began to hurt, like something sharp was under the skin and forcing its way out. She screamed in pain and fear as three foot long blades popped out of each hand, ripping through the skin, there was more blood turning the pristine white snow a bright crimson. The barking was getting louder, there were shouts from men, they were getting closer, and they were going to get her—

"NO!" She screamed and sat forward. Looking around, her heart pounding out of her chest, she saw that she was no longer in the snowy forest but in a darkened hospital room and someone was speaking to her.

"Shush, now _liebchen_," a gentle voice was saying. "You are alright now."

Rogue looked toward the direction where the voice had come and made out a slight, dark figure, shrouded by the hood of a pullover sweater. She shrank back against the pillows as it approached, unsure if she had really woken up.

"I won't harm you," the heavily German accented voice said, softly. "I only wanted to see if you were alright. But I seem to have interrupted a nightmare, _ja_?"

"Look, bub!" Rogue growled at the stranger, attempting to get her bearings. "Ah don't know who ya are but if yer lookin' fer a fight, I'm more than willing ta oblige."

"_Nien_. I only wanted to see if you were alright." the figure held up his hands, disarmingly and it was then that she noticed he only had three fingers on each hand and everything clicked together in her mind.

"X-Man!" she hissed, looking about for anything that could be used as a weapon. "Haven't y'all done enough ta me?!"

"Wait! Please!" Nightcrawler pushed back his hood and stepped forward. "We were concerned, Wolverine is beside himself-"

"Do you really expect us to believe that brute feels any remorse over what he did to my daughter?!"

The overhead light flicked on, causing Rogue to shield her eyes against it as Mystique stepped into the room, Pyro and Avalanche behind her.

"Please, Mystique," Nightcrawler backed up so he could keep Rogue and the newcomers in his line of vision. "I'm telling the truth, we were concerned for the child. I did not come here for a fight."

"Oh, I believe you, Kurt," Mystique smiled. "I know you are being sincere, but that won't stop Pyro and Avalanche from personally escorting you from this private hospital."

"No," Nightcrawler backed up another step. "Not in front of the child, she has been through quite enough. I will go."

With a somersault and a puff of sulfur-smelling smoke, Nightcrawler was gone. Pyro and Avalanche hurried from the room to make sure that he was really gone as Mystique went to stand beside her daughter's bed. Rogue was trying to process everything that was happening; the last thing she remembered was Wolverine… Her hand went to her chest were she remembered being stabbed, there was no wound there now and the nightmare… where had that come from? Her chest hurt from her laborious breathing, the fear she had felt from the dream, her mouth was as dry as cotton. She couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, she looked up at Raven, tears brimming in her eyes: "Momma?"

"There, there, precious," Raven cooed softly as she gathered Rogue into her arms. "Everything is going to be all right, I promise you. They won't get in here again, we'll see to that."

"It was so awful," Rogue sobbed unabashedly into her mother's shoulder. "Ah had th' worst nightmare, Ah don't know where it came from, it felt so real…"

"Shh," Raven soothed as she rocked her gently. "It's all over now. You're all healed; they just want to keep you here for observation. We're in a private hospital owned by the Hellfire Club and you know that Emma will do everything in her power to keep you safe."

After a few moments of crying, Rogue was able to catch her breath. She felt so tired and just plain weary. She was tired of being hurt and in bed.

"There now," Mystique said with a smile. "Feel better?"

Rogue nodded, too tired to say much.

"Need anything?"

"Water."

Pouring a glass full from the pitcher on the bedside table, Raven handed the glass to her daughter, watching her drink it all. When Rogue had finished, Raven put it aside and helped Rogue lay down again.

"You get some rest and I'll check in on you later, alright?"

Rogue nodded again, her eyelids feeling extremely heavy. She fell asleep and dreamed of Remy. They were sitting by the river, at her old house, underneath her favorite tree. They were just sitting there in the shade, not talking, just holding each other and watching the river flow past them. It only felt like a few minutes and when she woke from her dreams, it was still dark. Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, she noted that it was a little after eight. It was quiet except for the occasional shuffling of the nurses out in the hall; Rogue turned her head and gazed out the window into the dark sky, it wasn't that dark and no stars could be seen. She wanted so much to be back down south with Remy. Somewhere down the hall, she heard her mother's voice and then another, unfamiliar one, a man's voice, they were talking; she didn't bother to turn toward the door as they approached.

"Are you sure?" Raven said, she didn't sound too happy. "Can't you run it again to be positive?"

"I can run it again," the man answered. "But it will be the same; I can assure you of that."

"Run it again," Raven's voice was short. "I want to be positive so we can take the necessary steps in dealing with this."

"Necessary steps?"

"Yes, there's no way this can happen, I won't allow it."

"Isn't it for her to decide what to do with this information?"

"She's a child herself; she can't possibly know how to deal with this."

"Legally, she is an adult."

"Legally," Raven hissed, the venom in her voice made Rogue shiver. "You can do a lot of jail time for what I've paid you to do over the years. I do hope you aren't going back on our prior arrangement, you know how much I dislike it when people do that."

"No, I'm not," the man answered quickly, his voice shaking a bit. "I didn't mean anything by it, I assure you."

"Good," Raven said, her voice becoming chillingly pleasant. "Let's go and check on our patient, shall we?"

Rogue shut her eyes as she heard them enter the room, not wanting them to know she had overheard their conversation. She pretended to wake when Raven touched her shoulder and she opened her eyes to see an unknown but handsome young doctor beside her mother.

"Hello there, sweet," Raven's voice was so sweet and caring; Rogue could not believe that it had sounded so cruel a moment ago. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Rogue smiled weakly at them. "How long was Ah asleep? It only felt like a few minutes."

"You slept through the day and into the night," the doctor smiled warmly at her. "Over twenty-four hours. But that's understandable, given what you've gone through. We're going to keep you one more night for observation and if everything checks out alright, you can leave tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"It sounds terrific," Rogue said but noticed that the doctor was now putting on latex gloves and was now reaching for her.

"I'll bet," the doctor seemed cheerful and smiled when she flinched away from him. "Don't worry, I'm just going to make sure you're still alright, we don't want to take any chances."

Rogue frowned but allowed the doctor to examine her while he talked cheerfully about the weather and other nonsensical things. After a few moments, he went over to a cabinet and pulled out a sterile syringe and took a sample of her blood. Then he smiled reassuringly again as he headed out the door, giving the sample to a nurse out in the hallway and whispering to her, then he returned to Rogue's bedside.

"We're not going to take any chances," he said.

Rogue nodded and turned to Raven. "Have you called Remy?"

"Oh, it would just worry him," she answered. "You know he can't just drop everything and come rushing over here. You're going to be fine and you can call him once you're out of here."

"Ah just want t' talk t' him," Rogue said, slightly pleading. "It would make me feel so much better."

"No, the best ting now is for you to sleep," Raven said, looking over at the doctor. "Isn't that right?"

"Oh, yes," the doctor caught Raven's look and moved over to the monitors that were hooked up to Rogue and pulled something out of his pocket. "The more rest you get, the sooner you'll be out of here."

"But y'all jus' said Ah slept over a whole day. Ah want t' talk to Remy. Momma, please…"

"We'll have no more of that," Raven said, firmly. "You're upsetting yourself."

"No, Ah'm not, Ah…" Rogue looked over as she felt a slight tug on the I.V. in her arm and noticed the doctor with another syringe and he was injecting something into the saline drip. "What's that? Momma?"

"Don't worry about a thing," Raven pushed her daughter's shoulders back against the bed. "You just need to get a little rest. Just relax, precious. I'll take care of everything."

"No," Rogue tried to wade through the grogginess that had come upon her suddenly. "Mama, why are you doing this?"

She could no longer keep her eyes open and her world soon faded to darkness. The last thing she heard was her mother ordering the phone removed from the room and a guard posted at the door.


	17. Yup

(Yes, I'm still alive and I'm sorry for not updating. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and sent me messages to get off my duff and update. I hope you like this chapter although most of you have probably guessed what was happening. Its short, I know, but I thought you would rather have an update sooner rather than later. Enjoy)

Her whole body felt heavy; she tried desperately to move, to call out, and to even open her eyes but the drugs they pumped into her system were strong; she couldn't seem to make her body respond. She wanted to get up. Panic surged through her as she tried again and again to wake herself but it was in vain. After a few more attempts, Rogue was able to open her eyes and turn over in her bed. She looked around as the adrenaline her panic brought on overran the drugs. Swallowing a few times, she tried to speak, to call out to someone but she couldn't, her mouth was drier than it had been upon her previous waking. Taking several deep breaths she tried to clear her muddled mind and focus on what was happening to her. She needed Remy; shifting her gaze around the room, she saw there was no phone to call him with. If she tried to get up, they might drug her again but she wasn't sure why; something about her blood tests. Something her mother didn't think she could handle; that was ridiculous, she was a married woman. If only she could get to a phone… But she wasn't sure just where Remy was now. He could be back in New Orleans for all she knew. She wasn't even sure how long she had been out. Perhaps she could call Jean Luc? Her father in law would surely come to her aid. Now she was back to needing a phone.

Focusing all her energy, she lifting her head… big mistake; the room was spinning faster than a merry-go-round and she fell back again with a heavy sigh, closing her eyes until the spinning subsided.

"You're not feeling any better?"

She didn't have to open her eyes; the thick German accent and the smell of sulfur assailing her nose told her that the little blue elf was back in her room. "Whadaya want X-Man?"

Her voice was hoarse from disuse and her speech was slurred from the drugs, she hated to sound that vulnerable in front of an enemy but the man had eyes and could see that she was in a bad way; a strong voice wouldn't have made much difference.

"When I heard you were not yet discharged, I was worried," his voice moved to the foot of her bed. "Wolverine would never forgive himself if he knew he had caused more damage then we first thought."

"Ah don't care 'bout yer puppy," Rogue forced her eyes open and set what she hoped was a scalding glare at the blue elf perched at the foot of her bed like vulture on a church steeple. "He should feel bad over runnin' me through."

"Your wounds seemed to be healed," Nightcrawler continued. "Yet you seem to be in worse condition than you were a few days ago."

"Ah bet Ah still look prettier than you," Rogue quipped, trying not to show her surprise over being asleep for more than a day. "If ya'll came over here just ta let yer pet know that Ah'm still laid up then ya can go back an' make yer report now."

"He doesn't know I've come, none of them do," Nightcrawler said, his tone soothing. "Wolverine is my friend, I came for his sake. But it gives me no pleasure to see you like this, if there's anything I can do…"

"Ya can go away an' leave me in peace," Rogue snapped. This X-Man was a bit too sympathetic for her and she was finding it difficult to hate him at the moment.

"As you wish, _mein liebster_," the X-Man stepped down off of the footboard and headed toward the window. "I have no wish to anger you."

She watched him draw closer to the window and let out a small sigh; she did need him. "Wait," she spoke up and he paused, looking back at her. "If ya really meant what ya said…"

"Every word, _l__iebchen_."

"Then Ah need ya ta make a phone call for me."

XXX

Jean Luc LeBeau frowned at the phone on his desk; not many knew the number for that extension and those that did were not scheduled to call him for awhile, except for emergencies. A sense of dread was tingling at the base of his skull as he reached over and picked up the receiver.

"_Bonjour_?"

"Is this Jean Luc?"

"_Oui_," Jean Luc's frown deepened when he heard the unfamiliar male voice and its German coating. "Who is dis?"

"I am calling for Rogue," the voice said. "She needs you."

XXX

Jean Luc followed the instructions of the unknown German to the hospital in New York; he wasn't sure if the message was really from his daughter in law but he couldn't take the chance that it wasn't. Creeping up toward the window he sought, under the cover of night, he peered into the dimly lit room and panic squeezed his heart when he saw the pale girl upon the bed. He looked around the window sill and easily disarmed the alarm attached to it before easing it open. Stepping into the room, he could see guards posted by the partially closed door but they never heard his footfalls. His son's wife seemed to be sleeping but there was a look of distress upon her face that made him uneasy. He quietly pulled out her chart from the foot of the bed and scanned it for information; after a moment, his jaw dropped in complete shock. As he continued reading, the shock turned to fury as he read the over the procedure scheduled for the next morning. Anna was being kept sedated, the decision obviously wasn't made by her and it had her mother written all over it. He moved over to the girl who seemed to be stirring, he moved closer to her and noticed she was coming out of her drug induced state.

"Anna?" He whispered softly. "Anna, darlin', wake-up."

Her lashes fluttered softly as she tried to wake up, tried to swim back to consciousness and hoping the voice she heard wasn't a dream. Forcing her heavy lids open, her eyes started to tear up when she saw that the blue elf had kept his word. "Ya really here?"

"_Oui, je suis ici_," Jean Luc whispered, looking over his shoulder to make sure the guards hadn't heard them. [1]

XXX

The private car got them to the airport without being seen and the private jet got them back to New Orleans before the drugs had worn off. She was sitting up in bed, in Remy's old room and drinking an icy glass of sweet tea by midday. Jean Luc stood in the doorway with Tante Matte, speaking in low voices as they watched Rogue, propped up on pillows, laughing as Lapin and Henri argued over some nonsense. Mercy, who sat at the foot of Rogue's bed pretended to scold them and made Anna giggle harder. Remy was still not home, he and Philippe had been delayed when they had to take a detour to Casablanca to avoid the authorities. His relatives were only too glad to entertain his pretty wife, they were all glad to see her again and wholeheartedly accepted her as part of their family.

"She hasn't mentioned it," Jean Luc said quietly. "I don' tink she knows."

"But anyone who look at her gonna know," Tante whispered back. "She glowin'. You gonna be a _grand-père, _Jean Luc."

[1] "Yes, I am here."


	18. The Boom Has Been Lowered

(Another short chapter, sorry. I'll try to do better on the next chapter. Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed, your reviews really do help and encourage me. Kudos to **Ludi**: you're the only one to express any suspicions about the doctor. Everyone read Ludi's fics, they're brilliant)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Chapter 18

"What do you mean you don't know what happened to her?!"

A cheap, plastic pitcher slammed against the wall and Mystique looked about the hospital room her daughter had previously occupied, looking for something else to hurl against the wall. Every other piece of furniture except for the bed and the chair Irene sat upon, had already been turned over; the very exspensive equipment that had been set up to monitor Rogue's vitals, were spread across the store, sparking as the last surges of electricity died out. The door was closed and since the only other people in the room were Irene and the doctor, she had changed back into her natural form. Her golden eyes glinted dangerously as she glared at the doctor and curled her fingers into a fist as she breathed in deeply to control the rage that threatened to overwhelm her. The rest of the Brotherhood were cowering outside the hospital room with their ears pressed against the door but they dared not enter while their unstable leader raged about inside.

"I mean exactly what I said," the doctor said, calmly and seemed strangely unphased by Mystique's tantrum; in fact, he seemed slightly disgusted by it. "She was in her room, sleeping soundly in the drug-induced state you demanded she stay in and when the nurse came in to administer the next dose, your daughter was gone. The guard was right outside the door; no one came in and no one came out. I don't think she could have made it very far on her own; she would still have been affected by the sedative if she were conscious at all. She had to have had someone helping her."

"Yes," Raven spat as she began to pace back and forth across the debris strewn floor. "Someone who has expertise in getting in and out of a locked room without being detected; my daughter's in laws had something to do with this, if not her husband himself. I just want to know how they found her. I had the phone taken out and guards posted at the door… damn them. Why can't they mind their own business?!"

"Calm yourself, Raven," Irene said, smiling a bit in her serene countenance. "I don't foresee any danger in her immediate future. If she is with her in laws then she is safe at least."

"Safe?" Raven snorted but did calm down a bit, flopping down on the bed. "They'll convince her to stay with them and keep that… that…"

"Baby?" The doctor finished for her, raising his dark brows slightly. "Imagine making a decision like that for her… tsk, tsk."

"Seems like you're growing a backbone," Raven looked up at the doctor, annoyance plain on her face. "Usually, it's something I admire in people but it doesn't seem to suit you. I'm her mother; I know what's best for her and they're putting her at risk. What do you think will happen when she gives birth to that child? The slightest of touches and she'll suck the life out of her baby. Even if it survives, she'll never be able to touch it. I know what that will do to her, she would have been better off if she never knew about it. I know my daughter; she'll keep the child and be miserable for the rest of her life. Not that the rutting animal she married could care as long as he could still touch her."

"Be that as it may," the doctor spoke up and leaned against the wall by the door, impatience clouding his dark eyes. "You should get her back here before she gives birth; I'm sure they don't have the necessary equipment in a backwoods bayou."

"No," Raven fumed. "They'll rely on that ignorant, voodoo witch they see as some kind of miracle worker. I won't have her handling my daughter when the time comes."

"Then I suggest you go track her down and pry her away from the swamp before your grandchild is born in it."

"You're getting a bit snippy, doctor," Mystique growled as she stood and helped Irene to her feet. "I really don't like it."

"Your grandchild will be a mutant, there's only the slightest chance that it won't, the sooner we can figure out what its power will be, the better."

"Just don't be overstepping your bounds," Raven warned as she morphed into a normal visage as she and Irene left the room. "Or the medical boards might have some might have some interesting reading about the prestigious Dr. Nathan Milbury."

Dr. Milbury watched the door close behind Mystique, his lip curling in disgust and his dark eyes taking on a crimson glow as he turns away and grins at his reflection in the mirror beside the bed. His pale skin turning a few shades lighter making the red diamond shaped mark on his forehead that much more prominent. "You push your luck woman, but it does not matter because I will soon possess what I have long sought."

(A/N: *smirk*


	19. Chapter 19

(First off, I apologize to my readers. First for my absence; it's been like what? 5 years? That's horrible! But real life, ya know? I lost all my copies of my fics when my computer crashed a couple years ago and I couldn't remember the timelines. Plus I got into roleplaying… so much fun but so time consuming and I'm not sure it helped my writing. I will try to update my fics between school and homework and thank so much to those who still emailed for updates. Secondly, I would like to apologize for the horrible last chapter I left you with! I hadn't realized that I was switching from past to present tense! How embarrassing! Anyway, I think I corrected most of it, I didn't add much else to it because it would make me want to go back and edit everything. I've been rereading my fics and I'll try to keep things rolling again. Working on my next chapter now.)

Marvel's, not mine.

Chapter 19

_I love thee, I love but thee__  
__With a love that shall not die__  
__Till the sun grows cold,__  
__And the stars grow old..._

_-Bayard Taylor_

Rogue closed her eyes as she lay back against the cushions that covered the wrought iron patio furniture and waited; there didn't seem to be even a whisper of a breeze in the entire state of Louisiana. Groaning softly, she opened her eyes and looked out at the man-made lake in her new back yard. She had agreed to stay with Remy's family after Jean-Luc helped her out of the hospital; they're house was huge and her new father in law was already having the west wing of the old house renovated for her and Remy. Rogue sighed as she thought of Remy; he was somewhere in Nova Scotia, last they heard, he had trouble fencing… not that they told Rogue what exactly he was fencing… and he had to unload a few things before he could come back into the States. It seemed that someone, either the assassins or some of the other guilds enemies had tipped off the authorities and Rogue was only able to speak to Remy for a few moments before they lost contact with him. She wanted to tell him about the baby but she couldn't do it over the phone, especially with his family in earshot. Tante Matte and Mercy had helped her put the pieces together after a spending a few mornings with her head in the toilet.

Jean-Luc had told her that she and Remy would need a space for themselves and the house was large enough to avoid the rest of the family if she felt like it; he asked that she not go back to live with her mother and Marius. She wasn't sure why her mother had kept her sedated; Raven hardly ever explained her actions except that she always tried to act in her daughter's best interest. Emille and Katherine had returned to New Orleans a week after Rogue; they immediately called on their new in laws. Jean-Luc met them at the door and Rogue could only make out a very heated, whispered conversation before her mother was granted entrance. Mystique wasn't happy to hear her daughter's news, aside from the tight smile on her face; Rogue knew her mother well enough to see through it and wondered if her mother hadn't known sooner. She pushed it all from her mind and focused on the blueprints, paint samples and swatches that her new family bombarded her with. The west wing would now have a living room, kitchen, dining room, a small pantry, a master bedroom suite, and two other spare rooms aside; one of which would now be used as a nursery.

Rogue couldn't help but grin when she thought about the baby growing inside her; the baby she and Remy created together. She had been on the pill like her mother had insisted but she had stopped taking them when she and Remy had fought; she had been so upset that she had forgotten to take them. She knew that the baby had to be conceived when they made up and she felt there was nothing more appropriate then the creation of a new life while they cemented a new course in their lives together. She looked around at the backyard, frowning slightly when she realized how dangerous it was for a baby. She was seated beneath a garden gazebo with its mesh curtains drawn to keep out the insects that were buzzing lazily about in the humidity sipping a virgin mint julep and made a mental list of all the things that needed to change before the baby came. Holding the icy glass to her forehead, she knew the lake needed a fence around it, the back doors needed better locks and they needed quite a few baby gates around the house. Letting out a sigh, she stood up; she was restless and missed Remy terribly; she hated doing all this planning by herself.

"Anna!" Mercy poked her head out of the French double doors and scanned the back yard until she spotted her sister in law. Heading out toward the gazebo, Mercy was practically beaming. "Anna, Remy's home! His jet jus' landed 'bout ten minutes ago, Henri an' Jean-Luc just went t' meet 'im."

"Why didn't they tell me?" Rogue set down her glass and pushed aside the curtains to meet Mercy. "Ah would've liked t' meet him. Ah'm dyin' ta see him."

"I know, darlin' but dey were worried 'bout exciting y' an' dere is a bit o' family business to take care of. He should be home soon an' I thought y' would want t' freshen up b'fore he come home."

"Ah guess ya right," Rogue said, not bothering to hide her dismay. "Ah don't really want t' see him all sweaty an' grubby."

"Right," Mercy patted Rogue's covered arm. "Why don' you go take a nice cool bath, splash on a lil' _parfum_… You feel refreshed for your man, neh?"

"Yeah," Rogue stretched a bit and headed into the house with Mercy. "Ya know Ah have butterflies in mah stomach, isn't that silly? Ah'm not nervous but Ah'm so anxious t' see Remy again, Ah've missed him so much."

"Dat's not silly. I still get dat way when Henri has been gone awhile an' after all, y'all are still newlyweds. Bein' apart f'r a few days can be torture, y' and Remy have been apart fer nearly a month now. It must feel like an eternity."

"You said it," Rogue held on tightly to the carved mahogany banister as she climbed the stairs beside her sister in law. "Ah can't really think of anything else right now, except Remy comin' home."

"_Oui_, dat sounds 'bout right," Mercy squeezed Rogue's gloved hand when they reached Rogue's room. "An b'lieve me, when I say dat not everybody lucky enough t' have it an' don' ever let anyone take it away from you. Hold on to it, f'r dear life. Y' an' Remy have somethin' good."

"Ah, know it," Rogue nodded and squeezed Mercy's hand in return. "Ah won't ever give up Remy without a fight, not while Ah've got a breath in my body."

XXX

Remy sat drumming his fingers impatiently on the arm of his chair; he was seated before his father, brother and some of the other elders of the guild going over every detail of his mission. It dragged on interminably, they had already been there for an hour and he was ready to run out of the room, all the way to his Anna's arms. His foot began to tap nervously, unconsciously as one of the elders droned on about tradition and a job well done. His father spoke up then about Anna staying with them instead of with her mother, asking if there were objections and stating that she would be safer there. Julien was still causing problems, throwing stones from the shadows and then retreating before he could be caught. He had been quiet for about a week but then started back up again a few days after Anna returned and Belladonna had begun stirring up trouble as well. Remy didn't care, not at that moment; all he wanted to do was get home to Anna and sweep her up in his arms. After another minute, he realized that the room had gone quiet and they were all staring at him; Henri in particular was wearing a knowing smirk.

"Our pact wit' da Assassians is sealed, far as I'm concerned," Jean-Luc said, raising a brow as he looks at his son. "Now all we need t' do is tell de rest o' de guilds dat Anna be in da family way."

Remy stared at his father for a moment as the words bounced around in his brain and he tried to make sense of them. The other elders had taken on expressions that showed both their disapproval and approval for impregnating his young wife. Looking back and forth from his father, his brother and the elders, Remy sat in his chair for another ten seconds before bolting from his chair and running out of the building. Henri chuckled, nodding to the elders and hurried after his brother to make sure that Remy didn't break any speeding laws or crash his car while trying to get to his bride. It was only a ten minute drive but Remy couldn't get there fast enough; as soon as they pulled up the driveway, Remy jumped out of the car and sprinted up to the door. Pushing the front door open and letting it crash against the wall, Remy looked around the house, not sure just where Anna was.

"Remy?"

Looking up, Remy saw Rogue hurrying down the stairs; she had just come out of the bath, her hair was still slightly damp and she was still wearing her emerald green satin robe. She stood at the landing for a few seconds, breathless and her heart in her throat; she couldn't believe he was finally home. Then they moved in unison, him bounding up the stairs, two at a time and she, floating down the stairs to meet him. They said nothing, they needed no words; as soon as they reached one another Remy swept her up in his arms and they kissed, deeply, passionately as he carried her to their room.

XXX

He took her to his old room, the one he knew she had been occupying, kissing her mouth, cheeks and neck; tasting her and breathing her in. They fell together onto the bed, kissing hungrily and running their hands over each other's faces, necks, shoulders… She ran her hand down his chest, finding the hem of his shirt and slipped her hands beneath it, running her hands over his chest. He stopped long enough to pull his shirt off before proceeding to peel off her robe, pleased to find no other articles of clothing beneath it and ran his hands over her breasts, caressing them as though they were as fragile as rose petals. He nuzzled his nose against her breasts, and ran his hands over her hips and thighs. She licked her lips, her breath coming faster and trailed her hands over his well-muscled shoulders as his ministrations caused flashes of delight to sizzle along her nerves. He swirled his tongue around her nipple and suckled gently at it as he slid his hands down over her hips. His hands moved lower, caressing her thighs as he moved to give the same attention to her other breast.

"Remy!" she gasped softly, arching her back and pressing her body closer to him. "Remy, Ah've missed y' so much."

"Me, too, _bebe_," he murmured against her skin as his hands moved down further, his finger lightly grazing her mound. "Me too."

She bucked her hips instinctively as he touched her, her whole body craving, needing his and runs her fingers up through his hair when she felt his fingers slip into her folds, already damp with longing. Rogue bit down on her lower lip as his fingers slid up and down, circling slowly around her clit as her pleasure grew. She tugged lightly at his hair, drawing his face to hers and kissed his mouth again as his finger began to stroke rhythmically at her clit. Moaning against his mouth she lifted her hips, moving them in time with his strokes as the fire within her burned hotter and hotter. She whimpered as she began to lose her sense of everything but the pleasure surging up inside her and she gripped his hair tighter until the building pleasure overtook her and she cried out into his mouth.

Remy moved down, kissing a trail down her throat as he tugged down his pant and boxers as quickly as he could, drawing her knees up as he slowly eased inside her. He lets out a soft groan, burying his face into the crook of her neck and focued on the muscles of her inner walls contracting around him as her body is still rocked with aftershocks from her climax. After another moment, he moves his hips toward her, moving deeper within her and relishing every second of it. Her breathing slowed a bit as she pulled her legs up higher, wrapping them around his waist and lifted her hips to draw him in deeper. After another moment, they moved together in unison, their hips rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm that soon grew faster and more urgent.

"Remy! Oh, God, Remy!" she whimpered, her fingers moving down to grip his shoulder tightly as he pumped harder into her. A lovely warmth was spreading inside her and at the same time, coiling tighter and tighter in her belly. "Remy, Ah love you!"

"Anna! _Je vous aime autant de, le bébé ! Autant de ! Mon Dieu, vous êtes stupéfiant !" _[1]

They moved together, harder, faster, until Rogue gripped Remy's shoulders tightly and threw her head back with a loud cry as she found her release for a second time. Remy shouted her name a few moments later, following her into those pleasant flames. Then they lay together for a moment, their bodies still joined as they tried to catch their breaths and slow their racing hearts. Lifting his head, Remy stared into her eyes.

"I love you so much, Anna."

"Ah love you too, Remy. Please don't stay away from me for that long again, I couldn't bear it."

"Never, _chere_, never. Remy gonna stay wit' you forever."

"Promise me, Remy."

"I promise."

(A/N: *beams* [1] I love you so much, baby! So much! My God, you're amazing! )


	20. Chapter 20

(I'm making a bit of time pass between this chapter and the last. Again, so sorry for the complete lack of updates for so long, I hope you all enjoy this)

She was craving coffee. Oh, God, she really, really wanted some coffee. It didn't help that everyone else in the house was drinking that good ol' Louisiana chicory… dammit. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the rich, heady aroma that wafted up from the rooms below and scowled at the floor as though she could see through the polished mahogany boards at the offending members of her husband's family as they drank up that precious drink that she could almost taste. She could almost feel the warm liquid rolling over her tongue, caressing its way down her throat and warming her insides pleasantly. It was now November, Thanksgiving Day to be exact and in was quite chilly; the temperature had dropped down to around 55 degrees and Rogue had to settle for peppermint tea instead of that delicious smelling coffee. Eyeing the dark brown liquid in her mug, her lip curled in disgust as she set the offensive drink down on the table in their cozy living room and glared at the mantle, suddenly angry that the fire Remy had built an hour ago had dared to sputter out. At just over five months pregnant, it wasn't as though she could just bend over and put more wood on the damn thing. As much as she preferred warm weather, she was grateful that the cooler temperature allowed her to be a little more comfortable while all covered up to prevent any accidental exposure. She wasn't too cold, though it was an older house, it was well insulated and her plum colored sweater dress was warm enough for the moment, her grey silk gloves and woolen tights were thick enough to keep the rest of her warm; the crackling fire however had been relaxing. Now that there was no cheery fire going to liven up the quaint, little apartment that Jean Luc had created for them in the west wing of the house, the room was getting gloomier by the second. Her hair was also beginning to bother her so she swept it up into a ponytail and turned to gaze out of their big, bay window, only to heave another loud sigh. It was grey outside and dull, the fall sunshine fighting to make its way out from behind the dark clouds that had rudely sauntered into the New Orleans sky overnight. Turning away from the window, her disappointment with the sun evident on her face, she checked her appearance in an ornate full length mirror to make sure she was wearing matching shoes before venturing out into the main house to seek out her husband. Last week she had worn two different shoes because she couldn't really see her feet but having made sure each foot was encased in the deep grey Mary Janes, she felt a little better.

Earlier that morning, Tante Mattie had sent Remy out to find an open grocery store to pick up a few, last minute items she would need for dinner. She had heard someone murmur that Remy could use a break and she had huffed back up to their apartment without a word. As if she wouldn't like a break from carrying around that extra weight, swollen ankles, odd cravings and morning sickness. She was grateful that the morning sickness (obviously named that by some liar as she had it all day at times) had subsided for the most part. What really annoyed her were the whispers about mood swings. What the hell?! She didn't have any mood swings! Was it her fault that everyone and everything decided to annoy her at once? Was it her fault that everyone seemed to be breathing down her neck from across the room? And no, she didn't know why she felt the need to cry at times but couldn't they have the courtesy to allow her to sob in peace instead of constantly asking her what was wrong? Holding onto the banister, Rogue made her way down the stairs. In all actuality, she wasn't very large at all; in fact, if viewed from behind, no one would ever guess that she was pregnant until she turned around to reveal the small bump. Most people wouldn't even guess that she was nearly six months along. There was also that pregnancy glow that radiated from her and made her look absolutely breathtaking. It was something everyone kept insisting on but Rogue didn't feel as though she were glowing. She felt as big as a house. Grumbling to herself about the stairs, Rogue suddenly stopped short when she felt something glorious; like a cricket skittering across her belly. It was her baby making its opinion known.

"Ya tellin' me ta stop mah gripin', shugah?" Rogue whispered in awe. She closed her eyes as she placed her hand over her abdomen and felt another movement. A kick. "Sorry, forgot that it can't be that great in there with nothin' t' do but lie around all day."

She was still standing there on the stairs, her eyes closed, one hand holding onto the banister and the other placed on her belly when her husband returned from his errand. Seeing her standing like that, not moving, holding her stomach, apprehension seized him and he set down the bag of groceries on the sofa before moving swiftly to her side.

"Anna?" He was sure his heart stopped and he placed a hand on her arm. "Y' alright, _chere_? Is it the _bébé_? Are y' in pain?"

Rogue opened her eyes, those emeralds glittering with unshed tears that made his heart squeeze with fear… until she smiled. She gripped his hand and pressed it flat against her belly; he still looked a little fearful and confused until he felt it. He stared up at her in joyous wonder: "_C'est notre bébé_ ?"

"Yup," Rogue nodded, tears escaping her eyes. "That's our baby." The little person inside her womb had made its presence known awhile ago but now it was kicking up a storm, it wanted attention and to let it's parents know in no uncertain terms that it was there.

"_Feisty peu de chose. Wow, je l'ai fait_." (Feisty little thing. Wow, I did that.)

"We did," Rogue chuckled.

"_Feisty comme sa mama_." (Feisty like her mama)

"Her?"

"_Juste une intuition, cher_."

"What's going on?" Emil came out of the kitchen to see them standing on the stairs holding Rogue's swollen belly. "_Le bébé_?"

"_Oui_," Remy gave Anna a wink. "_Elle kicking une tempête. Peu acrobat_."

"She?"

"Remy has a hunch," Rogue said with a grin.

"_Puis-je?"_ Emil looked up at Rogue. With her nod, Emil placed a tentative hand on Anna's stomach and after a moment, his eyes widened as he felt the tiny movement.

Within the next few moments, most of the household was standing around Rogue on the stairs trying to feel the tiny movements of the newest addition to their family. Delighted, these big bad thieves were at feeling those tiny kicks. Tante Mattie stood in the entrance of the dining room watching them, a grin twitching the corners of her mouth upward. She gave it another few moments before she spoke up loudly: "Look at you, crowding around that way. Give the poor girl some air. Of course the chile is kickin' It prolly hungry. Can smell that turkey simmerin' but can't let anyone know. Y'all let her come down now, dinners almost ready… 'cept for the things I needed that are in that bag over there."

The crowd chuckled and began to disperse. "How the baby smell the turkey, Tante?" Lapin asked the older woman cheekily.

"Boy," Tante swatted at the young man. "You get in the dinin' room an' set de table."

-XXX-

By the time they sat down to dinner, Rogue was in a considerably better mood. She was surrounded by the people she had grown to love and the warmth from the good food and the company diminished the earlier chill she felt, almost completely. She felt a little twinge of regret that Raven and Irene weren't there to share this time with her but she knew her foster mother wouldn't have enjoyed herself. Pushing the thought from her mind, she helped herself to more turkey and hot rolls; fully intent on stuffing herself silly. A few more kicks to her abdomen told her that her little one was enjoying the afternoon as well. Forcing down a little desert, Rogue turned to Remy who was joking with his brother and cousins; she felt a fierce swell of love for him rise up so swiftly that it brought tears to her eyes. As though feeling her gaze, he turned toward her.

"_Chère_?" He leaned in close and whispered. "Y' alright?"

"Ah'm perfect," she whispered back. "Ah'm so happy Ah feel like Ah could burst."

"Please darlin'," Remy grinned and eyed her belly. "Don' burst jus' yet. Dat bun got a lil' more time in de oven yet, neh?"

"Hey," Emil shot up from his seat and moved over to the television that was playing in the living room by itself. He turned up the volume as the pictures began to flash across the screen and the caption read: Mutants Battle In Mid-Town Manhattan. The shaky camera made it hard to see just what was happening but soon they saw mutants in costumes battling with one another. Rogue could distinctly make out Pyro and Avalanche taking on Colossus and Nightcrawler. Rogue stood and watched the news coverage, nervously chewing her bottom lip as she swore she saw Toad hopping away from Wolverine in the background. At one point, a few innocent bystanders were attempting to flee the scene as police swarmed onto the scene, sticking close to the buildings. As the people tried to run, Nightcrawler teleported to assist them and protect them from Pyro's stray bursts. It was obvious the little blue elf was attempting to help, leaving himself exposed to get the people to safety but there were faint shouts on the camera to the contrary: "That mutie's going after those people! Someone do something!"

"No!" Rogue whispered, gripping Remy's hand as he stood beside her watching the screen, horror on his face. They could all see it coming. Shots rang out and Nightcrawler went down as a scream tore itself from Rogue's throat: "NOOOOOO!"

Anna's knees nearly gave out from under her and Remy had to support her to keep her from falling. "He was trying to help!" Mercy cried her eyes on the screen as though they could hear her. "He was trying to help!"

Still watching the screen, Rogue's heart wrenched as she saw a flash of blue and white close to the screen; Mystique was there. She was directing the Brotherhood to draw the police's fire?

"Wait," Emil said. "Weren't they just fighting?"

They all watched as the police targeted the Brotherhood, allowing Colossus to reach his fallen teammate and deflect any stray bullets. Rogue didn't realize she was holding her breath until she saw Nightcrawler on his feet, gripping his shoulder. She let out that breath as she watched the two X-Men make their way into the alley between the buildings. Suddenly a gale force wind accompanied by lightening and hailstones assaulted the police, forcing them to withdraw and allowing the X-Men as well as the Brotherhood to flee the scene.

With her family and the other mutants out of the line of fire, Rogue allowed the tears to fall. Remembering how Nightcrawler had helped her and her hand went to her belly as she cried harder.

"_Chère,_" Remy looked a little panicked as he wrapped his arms around his wife. "It be ok, did y' see? Dey all got out ok."

"No," she shook her head. "No, they'll hate her too."

"Who darlin'? The other mutants?"

"Our baby!"

Remy froze as the horrible realization of what she was saying came to him.

"They already hate her for what she'll be. She's not even born yet an' they hate her," Rogue buried her face into his chest as she wept. "They'll hate her just for being born, for being alive. She's just a baby… how can we protect her from that?!"

Remy wrapped Rogue up in his arms tightly, fighting the tears that threatened to spill from his own dark eyes as fear enveloped him. She was right, their child would almost definitely be a mutant too, born into a world that hated and feared her. How would they be able to protect her from hate?

(A/N: What did ya think? Love it? Hate it? Please review!)


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